Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are currently directly or indirectly engaged in a number of Middle East conflicts, as well as opposing sides of the global oil trade.
Saudi Arabia has a significant budget for military
spending, and although Iran's is harder to determine, according to Radio
Farda, it is estimated at $7bn annually.
The United States remains the Gulf Region's main supplier
Nearly 50 percent of the UK's arms exports go to Saudi Arabia,
according to SIPRI. Most of these imports are used by Saudi Arabia in
its ongoing war in Yemen
The overwhelming majority of Saudi arms imports are from the US and European countries.
ECONOMY
Iran
Iran's economy grew by 7.4 percent from 2016-17, a rise from the previous year. The International Monetary Fund assessed in February 2017 that this boost was a result of the expansion of oil production.
Navid Kolhar, a financial analyst in Tehran, agrees, adding
that the economy's upward movement was attributed to increasing trade
in hydrocarbons.
The non-oil sector was barely one percent of total growth, and economic growth was mainly driven by Iran's exports, especially to the Asian market.
In spite of the recorded growth, economic difficulty
persisted because of structural weakness in the financial system.
Inflation, meanwhile, was brought down to 9.5 percent in 2016.
Given the nature of natural resource-dependent economies,
however, the boost has not necessarily translated into greater job
opportunities for ordinary Iranians. The unemployment rate continues to
hover around 11.4 percent for the second year running.
Saudi Arabia
From January 2017 to January 2018, Saudi Arabia recorded
negative growth despite efforts by authorities to diversify the economy
and lessen its dependence on oil.
The country, which possesses 22 percent of the world's oil
reserves, has pressed other OPEC members to cut oil production to boost
global prices. But Saudi's non-oil sectors continue to struggle, recording a mere 0.6 percent growth, according to Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia continues to work out how to sell five percent
of its state-run oil producer Aramco - a deal that could raise more
than $100bn.
The plan is at the heart of an ambitious economic reform programme to wean the country off oil, which includes a new $ 500 billion megacity near
the Red Sea. It is hoped the extra money from the sale will make Saudi
Arabia less reliant on its black gold in the long run.
OIL PRODUCTION
Saudi Arabia
Based on OPEC's data, the oil-rich kingdom is the largest exporter of petroleum, with its oil and gas sector contributing about half of its GDP.
In addition to petroleum, Saudi also exports natural gas, iron ore, gold and copper.
The kingdom produces more than 10 million barrels of oil per day while consuming three million domestically.
Despite being the largest oil exporter in the world,
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC member states were forced to slash
production in an effort to restore plummeting oil prices.
The price crash was the result of surplus US oil
production, which currently stands at about nine million barrels per
day. This spurred Riyadh into action as it attempted to expand and
diversify the Saudi economy.
Iran
Decades of economic sanctions on
Iran have forced it to adopt a multi-faceted approach. Nevertheless, oil
continues to account for almost 80 percent of all exports.
According to Global Firepower, Iran currently
produces more than four million barrels a day, 1.8 million of which are
for domestic consumption.
Foreign investors resumed trading with Iran in 2015
when sanctions were lifted under the nuclear deal with world powers, in
return for which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme.
Between December 2015 and January 2016, as the
nuclear restrictions on Iran were being finalised, oil exports witnessed
a two-fold increase to reach almost two million barrels a day.
The numbers remained consistent throughout 2017, except for April that year.
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