The United States and Saudi Arabia have shared intelligence and found that Iran is likely planning at attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, according to a report from CNN. 

Iran and Saudi Arabia are region rivals and while the two used to have diplomatic ties, relations between the two countries frayed over the years until they were severed in 2016. Both countries have clashed over geopolitical issues like the interpretation of Islam, who leads the Islamic world and what kind of energy policy is required while trading with foreign nations. 

Traditionally, Saudi Arabia has had close ties to the US and the United Kingdom, whereas Iran has had a government supervised by a theocracy since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In addition, the two countries are divided on the interpretation of Islam as well, with Saudi Arabia being a Sunni-dominated population while Iran is majority Shia.

Relations between the two countries began to break down in the 2010s beginning when two Iranian officers were captured by Saudi Arabia-backed rebels in Yemen. The two were connected to Quds Force, a specialised wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. 

Later down the line when Iran was targeted with global sanctions, Saudi Arabia suggested that they would back the US. Then, in 2015, Yemeni hackers released information to WikiLeaks suggesting that Saudi Arabia planned to stir unrest in Iran through propaganda in social media, newspapers, websites and magazines. 

That same year, tensions escalated when a Hajj stampede in Mina left 2,431 dead of which the death toll amongst Iranians was the highest, at 464. Iran accused Saudi Arabia of being responsible for the disaster.

Things finally came to a head after Saudi Arabia executed over 40 individuals, including dissident cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Iranian protestors in Tehran attacked the Saudi embassy with petrol bombs and Molotov cocktails being thrown into the compound. After the attack, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced a cessation of diplomatic relations with Iran while also ending trade-links, air traffic and banned its citizens from visiting Iran.