Arch foes Saudi Arabia and Iran, playing the blame game.

Riyadh said Tehran is behind last month’s attacks on its oil plants, while a senior member of Iran’s parliament has accused the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia of attacking an oil tanker. The two regional rivals are locked in a standoff raising fears of an all-out war. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan traveled to Riyadh and Tehran to mediate. And Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down, too, in the Saudi capital, his first trip there in 12 years, a sign perhaps of a new powerbroker in the Middle East?

To discuss:

Ahmed Al-Ibrahim is a political and security analyst.

Anton Fedyashin is a History Professor at the American University.

Mostafa Khoshcheshm is a political analyst.

Mike Lyons is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point.

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Energy superpowers Saudi Arabia and Russia on Monday signed a key deal to bolster cooperation among the world's oil giants, as visiting President Vladimir Putin sought to defuse political tensions in the Gul https://t.co/kKpmIGXICP

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 14, 2019

Oil, Iran top agenda as #Russia's Putin visits #SaudiArabia
https://t.co/1WiCzGd9UR

— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) October 14, 2019