Saudi Arabia: Growing Shiite Assertiveness

Sheikh Adil al-Kalbani, the imam of the Kaaba in the Saudi city of Mecca, has called Shiite clerics "apostates," adding that they should never be included in the Supreme Council of Ulema. Al-Kalbani's remarks angered Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority, which has called for al-Kalbani's dismissal. The Shiite reaction emerges in the context of the regional rise of Shia in the Middle East, and amid growing pressure on the Saudi government to balance its Wahhabi allies and Shiite minority while resisting Iranian pressure.