Dr. Matteo Legrenzi, associate professor of International Relations at the University of Venice, will present "The Saudi-Iranian Rivalry: Filling Contested Vacuums in the Middle East" today at Missouri State University. The talk will start at 5 in Karls Hall, room 101. KSMU's Michele Skalicky sat down with Legrenzi to talk about the Saudi-Iran relationship and its impact on the region and the world.
Dr. Legrenzi says he's "fairly optimistic" a nuclear deal with Iran will be reached. But implementation will be "quite problematic," according to Legrenzi. He says there will be spoilers on both sides that will want to see the deal undone. He believes a deal will "help a lot" in terms of easing regional tensions.
Dr. Legrenzi says one could define the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran as a "cold war." He says the two players try to harm each other by meddling into countries that cannot control their borders and don't have full sovereignty.