On Saturday, Saudi Arabia executed 47 men on charges of terrorism, including an anti-government Shiite cleric named Nimr al-Nimr who may well have been receiving Iranian support. In response, a supposedly spontaneous mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran, and now Riyadh has broken off relations with the Islamic Republic. The entire crisis, writes Benny Avni, is a byproduct of America’s ill-advised Iran policy:

True, Riyadh’s justice system is no paragon of Jeffersonian ideals. Cruel and unusual punishment (stoning, limb-severing, throat slashing) is part of the system. We should certainly condemn it, rather than back the Saudi candidacy for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council as we did last year.

But the supposedly aggrieved party here, Iran, is second only to China in using the death penalty, doubling the annual Saudi execution rate—including political opponents. Except rather than slashing throats, like the kingdom’s executioners, the mullahs hang people from cranes at city centers. There are no angels here.

Meanwhile, the Saudis, our allies for a century, are at a crossroads. . . . As [they and other] Arabs see it, America constantly sides with Iran and its Shiite allies against the Sunnis—who make up more than 80 percent of the world’s Muslims. . . .

The Saudis . . . cherish their alliance with America, but last week they learned from our media of a White House plan to impose mild sanctions on Iran for illegally testing a long-range missile—only to reverse course a day later and postpone them after Iran complained.

Such behavior reinforces the notion that America’s only true goal in the region is preserving a presidential legacy: the already much-dreaded Iran nuclear deal signed last July. Having all the leverage over Washington, which fears an Iranian walkout above all, Tehran no longer even needs nukes to cause real existential heartburn in Riyadh.

While the current Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has never been friendly to Hamas, his government has objected strenuously to the Israeli campaign in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip. Haisam Hassanein explains why:

Cairo has long been playing a double game, holding Hamas terrorists near while simultaneously trying to appear helpful to the United States and Israel. Israel taking control of Rafah threatens Egypt’s ability to exploit the chaos in Gaza, both to generate profits for regime insiders and so Cairo can pose as an indispensable mediator and preserve access to U.S. money and arms.

Egyptian security officials have looked the other way while Hamas and other Palestinian militants dug tunnels on the Egyptian-Gaza border. That gave Cairo the ability to use the situation in Gaza as a tool for regional influence and to ensure Egypt’s role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would not be eclipsed by regional competitors such as Qatar and Turkey.

Some elements close to the Sisi regime have benefited from Hamas control over Gaza and the Rafah crossing. Media reports indicate an Egyptian company run by one of Sisi’s close allies is making hundreds of millions of dollars by taxing Gazans fleeing the current conflict.

Moreover, writes Judith Miller, the Gaza war has been a godsend to the entire Egyptian economy, which was in dire straits last fall. Since October 7, the International Monetary Fund has given the country a much-needed injection of cash, since the U.S. and other Western countries believe it is a necessary intermediary and stabilizing force. Cairo therefore sees the continuation of the war, rather than an Israeli victory, as most desirable. Hassanein concludes:

Adding to its financial incentive, the Sisi regime views the Rafah crossing as a crucial card in preserving Cairo’s regional standing. Holding it increases Egypt’s relevance to countries that want to send aid to the Palestinians and ensures Washington stays quiet about Egypt’s gross human-rights violations so it can maintain a stable flow of U.S. assistance and weaponry. . . . No serious effort to turn the page on Hamas will yield the desired results without cutting this umbilical cord between the Sisi regime and Hamas.