The well known facts are important; the Shah, an autocrat with US support, was overthrown by a combination of youth, the clergy and a new found zeal in Islam to cleanse itself of Western influence. That the initiator came from Shia Iran and not from Saudi Arabia, the center of Wahhabi Islam, perhaps surprised the House of Saud. The sudden rise of militant Shiaism, as personified by Iran’s revolution, worried the Sauds who were always in the game of carefully cultivating their brand of extremist Islam. It was time to get pro-active about overcoming the Shia challenge and extending the Wahhabi reach. The opportunities came sooner than they could have anticipated but before discussing that it is pertinent to have a look at the other big ticket event – the Ikhwan action at the Kaaba.