RIYADH (Reuters) — Saudi and Iranian leaders may have pledged at a rare summit to fight sectarian strife in the region, but the scale of their rivalry means they are unlikely to resolve crises in Iraq and Lebanon.While sectarian violence in Iraq, a crisis between Lebanon’s Sunni-led government and Shi’ite-led opponents and a standoff over Iran’s nuclear plans topped the agenda of last week’s meeting between Saudi King Abdullah and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, analysts saw little sign of cooperation.

“You don’t see strong, common interests that would get Riyadh all worried and eager to help a regime whose raison d’etre has no sympathy towards Arab monarchies,” a Western diplomat said.

“It begs the question how can they help Iraq and Lebanon overcome issues which are the heart of their own differences? They are putting the cart in front of the bull.”

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is a kingdom that adheres to a puritan brand of Sunni Islam often critical of Shi’ite practices. Iran is a republic ruled by Shi’ite clerics.

And while Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in the Middle East, Iran is a fierce opponent of Washington in the region.

Arab Gulf countries saw the visit as an attempt by Iran to win a key US ally’s support in the face of international pressure over its nuclear ambitions.

The United States accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian energy programme. Iran denies the charges but the Islamic Republic’s ambitions and its standoff with the West is raising concern among Gulf Arab states.

Analyst Mustapha Alani at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre said he did not think the visit reassured Riyadh over Tehran’s intentions.

“I don’t think this is going to happen. Iran first needs to change its behaviour in the region, abandon interventionist policies in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian territories.”

In his first comments after Ahmadinejad’s visit, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told Gulf Arab counterparts that Iran’s atomic programme was an extra burden for the region.

In a sign that they did not see eye to eye, shortly after Ahmadinejad’s departure from Riyadh, the Iranian government denied reports by Saudi state media that he had voiced support for a Saudi-led Arab peace initiative that would recognise Israel. Saudi newspapers did not carry the denial.

Mai Yamani, a London-based Saudi author and political analyst said the strong influence of religious establishments in both countries was the biggest hurdle to making progress in easing tensions between Islam’s two main currents.

“Iran and Saudi Arabia need to do a lot of house-cleaning before seeking to help others... The meeting was for show.”

Killings by Sunni and Shi’ite death squads in Iraq and the political crisis in Lebanon dividing Sunni and Shi’ite parties have led to fears of sectarian conflict in the Middle East.

Riyadh fears sectarian violence in Iraq could spread across borders to reach its own Shi’ite minority, concentrated in the oil-producing eastern region near Iran and Iraq.

Saudi Shi’ites have recently become more vocal, encouraged by the Shi’ites rise in Iraq and the fierce resistance by Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah guerrilla group to Israel during last year’s July-August war.

The toppling of Saddam Hussein, once helped by Washington and its Sunni Arab allies to curb Iran’s influence, led a coalition dominated by Iraq’s Shi’ite majority to power.

Saudi Arabia is not able to control Sunni insurgents in Iraq, as some of them include al Qaeda fighters sworn to its own destruction. Its influence with the loose government coalition in Lebanon is also questionable without the backing of France and the United States, the Western diplomat said.

The Iraqi Shi’ites, some allied to Tehran, have consolidated their power, and fighting between Sunni insurgents and Shi’ite paramilitaries has driven the country to the brink of civil war.

“The question is not so much about what Saudi Arabia can do now to control Sunnis, it’s about how much support it can provide them if this sectarian issue is not brought under control quickly,” the diplomat said.