Siding with Saudi's and Sunni arabs is an important part of our Mideast strategy. We will ally with Sunni arabs against Shia Iranians-- our major threat in the region. Russia is working with Iran and has made progress toward permanent bases there. Strategically, Russia having air bases and military in Iran will give them a strong position in the region and could give them air superiority. Russia's clear objective is to gain air superiority and push us out of the Mideast. This is the reason Russia is supporting Assad in Syria as it gives Russia additional air fields and bases. A danger facing us soon is a pro Iran movement in Iraq which has covert Russian support-- if this group captures the Iraqi elections in 2018 they will ask us to leave Iraq and we lose bases and support there. This is why we are at such odds with Russia-- any intelligence they can get about what might happen with our policies in mideast is valuable. It is why our interests are at odd with the Russians.