Ahmadinejad playing the role of Syria’s protector at Islamic conference

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, AFP reported, ahead of a two-day summit in Mecca in which members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are expected to focus on the Syria conflict. While host Saudi Arabia has led Islamic states’ criticism of Syria, Iran has defended the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“The world today is in a very sensitive situation,” Ahmadinejad told reporters just before leaving Tehran, according to the Fars news agency.

“Different groups are at work and the enemies are actively pursuing their aims and a great deal of energy is being spent by Islamic governments and groups on arguing and confronting each other,” he said. “I hope that the summit will focus on increasing unity and lowering antagonism.”

The conference is something of a showdown between Saudi Arabia, a staunchly Sunni country that supports the mostly Sunni rebels in Syria trying to overthrow Assad’s Shiite-dominated regime, and Iran, a Shiite state that is Assad’s greatest ally.

Syria is just one of several fields that divide the two countries, who are engaged in a regional rivalry.