I fear Saudi Arabia

Ian Dunwoodie’s comments (Letters, April 14) that Iran is destabilising in the Middle East must be placed under a historical lens. The conflict between Sunni and Shia over the leadership of Islam dates back to 632AD and the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Saudi Arabia and Iran are on opposite sides of the religious fence.

In Iran, the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, a socialist who believed that the oil of Iran belonged to the Iranian people, was overthrown by the US and Britain in 1953. The brutal dictatorship of the Shah was then imposed until the Iranian revolution of 1979.

I have little fear of Iran, as it seeks to overturn injustice. My fear is of Saudi Arabia and the conflict it imposes upon Yemen, and the conflict that Israel imposes upon Palestine.

There is one nuclear power in the Middle East today, and the

Israelis will not admit it. I say more power to the US, to come to terms with Iran.

Conrad Black, Palmerston North [abridged]