[2] Saudi Arabia's Twelver Shia community, the Baharna, is primarily concentrated in the country's Eastern Province, chiefly Qatif and Al-Ahsa.

Outside of the eastern province and Hejaz, Shia Islam exists in the southern region of the kingdom, with Najran and its Yam tribe being traditionally Sulaymani Ismaili.

[5][self-published source] Followers of the Wahhabite mission—who dominate religious institutions, courts and education of the kingdom[6]—believe that "Muslims should return to the interpretation of Islam found in the classical texts, the Quran and the Sunnah."

[6] Leaflets, radio broadcasts and tape cassettes from Iran targeted the Baharna and the other Shiites and attacked the Saudi government for corruption and hypocrisy.

[16] In 1987, following the deaths of over 300 during a demonstration by Iranian pilgrims in Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage, Khomeini "denounced the House of Saud as 'murderers' and called on all loyal Shiites in the Kingdom to rise up and overthrow them", further alarming Saudi officials.

[20] After the 1991 Gulf War ended, weakening Iran's enemy Saddam Hussein and exhibiting the strength of Saudi ally the United States, "there was a noticeable thaw in relations between the two countries".

[attribution needed] In 1993, the Saudi government announced a general amnesty resulting in various Shiite leaders being released from jail or returning from exile.

[21] The anti-Shiite Imam of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina was even sacked after he attacked Shiism in a Friday sermon in the presence of Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

[21] In 2003, the political direction turned again, and a series of "National Dialogues" were initiated that included Shiites (as well as Sufis, liberal reformers, and professional women), to the strong disapproval of Wahhabi purists.

Saudi Shiites found Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution a "political inspiration", but an "important ideological source" was the organization Harakat al-risaliyin al-tala'i' (literally "the Movement of Vanguards' Missionaries"), established in 1968 not in Iran but in the Iraqi city of Karbala under the auspices of marja' al-taqlid (religious authority) Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Shirazi.

Al-Saffar represents one of the few voices publicly calling for moderate, pragmatic action, tolerance and reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis, and a political system based on civil society, free elections and freedom of speech.

[24][28][full citation needed] In addition to these two factions, there are also smaller groups of traditionalists who look at the Saudi regime with suspicion and do not intend to become part of any reconciliation talks.

[18] Pakistani columnist Mohammad Taqi has written that "the Saudi regime is also acutely aware that, in the final analysis, Shiite grievances ... stem from socioeconomic deprivation, as a result of religious repression and political marginalization bordering on apartheid.

"[33] Testifying before the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Ali al-Ahmed, Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, stated Saudi Arabia is a glaring example of religious apartheid.

The branch of Imam Mohamed Bin Saud University in Fairfax, Virginia instructs its students that Shia Islam is a Jewish conspiracy.

[34]In November 2014 at al-Dalwah village in the eastern province of al-Ahsa, three unknown masked gunmen opened fire at a Husseiniya, or Shi'ite religious center, killing eight and injuring a dozens.

In January 2016, Saudi Arabia executed the prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr, who had called for pro-democracy demonstrations, along with forty-seven other sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court on terrorism charges.

Even though, the Saudi regime uses the distinction between Sunnis and Shias in an attempt to highlight the religious and cultural difference of Iran compared to the other Gulf countries.

The protests then spread due to the youth mobilisation, especially on social media but never really made it outside the predominantly Shia Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

[44][48] Since May 2017[49][50][51][52][better source needed] in response to protests against the government, the predominantly Shia town of Al-Awamiyah was put under full siege by the Saudi military.

[54][55] Dozens of Shia civilians were injured, including a three-year-old and a couple of residents killed.The Saudi government claims it is fighting terrorists in al-Awamiyah.

[61][not specific enough to verify] In 2009, during Ashura commencements, Shia religious and community leaders were arrested protesting against the government and chanting slogans against Wahhabis.

[35] A fifteen-year-old pilgrim was shot in the chest and an unknown assailant stabbed a Shiite sheikh in the back, shouting "Kill the rejectionist [Shia]".

[62] Also late 2011, a prominent Shiite Canadian cleric, Usama al-Attar, was arrested for unknown reasons but possibly because of his criticism of the kingdom's response to uprisings in Yemen and Bahrain.

[65] Shiites are disqualified as witnesses in court, as Saudi Sunni sources cite the Shi'a practise of Taqiyya wherein it is permissible to lie while one is in fear or at risk of significant persecution.

Shiites cannot serve as judges in ordinary court, and are banned from gaining admission to military academies,[35] and from high-ranking government or security posts, including becoming pilots in Saudi Airlines.

[4] They also have been subject to what Human Rights Watch calls "official discrimination", including in "government employment, religious practices, and the justice system".

[67]One major point of dispute between the Ismailis of Najran and the Saudi Government remains the building of a physical fence on the Yemen-Saudi border, which is opposed by the local tribes.

"[69] In 1997, the Governor Prince Mish'al ordered police to prevent Ismaelis from performing prayers during the post-Ramadan Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr.

"[69] In April 2000, responding to an Amnesty International campaign publicizing lack of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, Ismaelis in Najran openly commemorated Ashura for the first time in many years.