The leaders of regional heavyweights Iran and and Saudi Arabia agreed at talks in Riyadh to fight growing Sunni-Shiite strife, warning that it was the greatest danger facing the region.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he and Saudi King Abdullah agreed at their meeting on Saturday that their two countries would work together to thwart "enemy" plots seeking to divide the Islamic world.
The meeting between the regional Shiite and Sunni Muslim oil powers was held against a backdrop of mounting fears that the sectarian bloodshed engulfing Iraq could spill over into the region.
Relations between Riyadh and Tehran have been strained over non-Arab Iran's growing influence in Iraq and its alleged backing of Shiite militias battling the once-ruling Sunni minority there.
At one point Saudi Arabia accused the United States of effectively handing the country to Iran and triggered reports -- swiftly denied by Riyadh -- of possible Saudi intervention on behalf of Sunnis.
Saudis saw Ahmadinejad's visit as a sign that the two countries are pooling efforts to ease explosive regional crises.
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