A Mosque Bombing Rattles Saudi Security

A suicide bomber struck a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia's restive Eastern Province on May 22 in a deviation from the string of suspected Islamic State-related attacks sweeping across Saudi territory and other internal Saudi violence. Saudi security officials and the state news agency have been slow to release details on the suspected perpetrator.

Given the amount of oil deposits in the Eastern Province, Riyadh will be sensitive to the possibility of a sectarian conflict in the area. The coming days likely will bring an increased Saudi security presence in the province and along key infrastructure nodes. However, Riyadh will be caught between engaging in effective counterterrorism and investigation activities and managing tensions with the local Shiite population. Saudi Shiites have long been involved in protests and attacks targeting Saudi security forces, a response to longtime marginalization of Shiites in the kingdom's official conservative Sunni Wahhabist state ideology. If this dissatisfaction intensifies, regional militant groups would be keen to exploit it.