THE severing of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran this week puts paid to all hope that some form of limited cooperation between Riyadh and Teheran could have helped crush the Islamic State (IS) rebels. Yet it was but a few days ago that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi happily announced, after his troops recaptured the city of Ramadi from IS militants, that his next target was Mosul. The town has the largest urban population under IS rule. More importantly, it is an oil production centre and thus a major source of revenue for the militants.

Clearly then, no one should underestimate the problems that lie ahead for Mr al-Abadi. The entire region is beset by both power jostling and sectarian division. The IS forces, and Al-Qaeda before that, are not just against the Shi'ite-led governments in Baghdad and Damascus but against every manifestation of foreign power and influence. The Islamists want not just to end all Western, and now Russian, backing for Arab regimes but also rid the region of cultural and social values that come with that support. Even bit players in the region have not had their people spared. IS has not hesitated to kill Japanese and Chinese citizens. These militants want to create an imagined pure theocratic state that would lead the way for all Muslims the world over.

This situation would be challenging enough if the world were united against the IS menace. Unfortunately, the counter-insurgency is being driven by the disparate and often conflicting agendas of the parties involved in the conflict. The US backs both the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government and Sunni Saudi Arabia, and frowns on Mr al-Abadi leaning on Iranian support.