Analysis: Iran-Saudi proxy war in Iraq feared

U.S. and Iraqi officials fear the sectarian conflict in Iraq will become a proxy war pitting Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim nations against Shi'ite Iran if a U.S. drawdown in Iraq leaves a weak government in place.

The conflict also threatens to strengthen al Qaeda in Iraq, which is seen as supporting the Sunnis in their fight against the steady expansion of Iranian influence over Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, said one Iraqi Sunni exile close to the insurgency.

"It is a religious war," said the exile, who added that Sunni tribal leaders in Saudi Arabia are already funding Sunni insurgents in Iraq.

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