The sudden escalation of tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran following Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shi'ite cleric is now spreading beyond just a spat between neighbours.
The escalation is very disappointing after such hopes late last year of there being some agreement on how best to halt Islamic State.
Middle East nations have chosen sides as world powers Russia and China start weighing in.
It is nothing new that Saudi Arabia and Iran are not seeing eye to eye. They are neither natural allies nor natural enemies. Instead, they are natural rivals who have long competed as major oil producers and self-proclaimed defenders of Shia and Sunni Islam, respectively.
The two nations were already on opposite sides of conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain and Lebanon. The question now is how much worse can things get?
What makes the latest dispute so worrying is Saudi Arabia executing a Shi'ite cleric. Hours after the death sentence was carried out, protesters in Shi'ite-majority Iran attacked the Saudi Embassy in Teheran. The Saudis cut diplomatic relations with Iran over the attack on its embassy.
China and Russia, the two largest geopolitical influences in the region, are calling for restraint, worried the political tensions will spread to a religious war. US Secretary of State John Kerry is calling for negotiations to begin between the two Middle East countries, a call which has so far gone unheeded.
The animosity between the long-wary Sunni and Shi'ite powers diminishes the chances they will work together to end the Syrian violence in which IS has thrived and increases the likelihood of more regional instability.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are painting themselves as victims. This is being described now as a war by proxy, a cold war taking place between the two nations. It is a war about geopolitics, power and influence.
There is no way New Zealand can condone the death sentences carried out by Saudi Arabia, and yet this country will still continue to support the kingdom through trade and commercial agreements.
To stop trading with Saudi Arabia would mean New Zealand having to sever relationships with countries which still use the death penalty and that includes New Zealand's largest trading partner - China. What sets the Saudi executions aside is their barbaric nature.
What New Zealand can use - hopefully effectively - is its place on the Security Council to influence thinking on how best to solve the problem which has every sign of overtaking the efforts to eradicate IS.
The Syrian civil war will continue while global powers turn their attention to Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The growing rupture between Saudi Arabia and Iran is threatening US efforts to end the Syrian civil war and stop IS in the Middle East, as Sunni states increasingly join the Gulf power in cutting or downgrading ties with Teheran. Any hopes of finding a diplomatic solution to Syria appear to be disappearing quickly.
Analysts say looking within Iran and Saudi Arabia gives a greater understanding of why both countries have an interest in fuelling the rivalry.
Saudi Arabia is dealing with plummeting oil prices and an internal succession battle over who will next take the throne. Iran needs a way to block reformists and Western advances in light of the recent nuclear deal. Both sides have an interest in using nationalist behaviour to score points at home.
No-one is predicting a quick end to the Saudi-Iran dispute and with both powers having access to the power of armed forces, the Security Council has every cause to act and act quickly.
The New Zealand Government is basically on holiday but it must be hoped a close watch is being kept on the region. New Zealand has a history of Iranian refugees and Saudi Arabian students coming to study in universities.
The escalation of tensions to a domestic level in New Zealand cannot be allowed to happen.
