Respuesta :
The correct answer is B) The United States and Saudi Arabia grew closer diplomatically due to the oil industry in the area.
Saudi Arabia is the oldest ally of the United States in the Middle East. Their alliance can be traced back to 1933, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt and King Ibn Al-Saud accorded that Saudi Arabia would grant access to the US to Saudi oil sources, in exchange for American support to the Saudi regime.
Since 1953, Iran was also an important ally to the US. The monarchic dictatorship of the Shah Pahlavi counted with the favor of the US government since it worked like a brake for Iranian nationalism that seeks to nationalize the oil industry.
The Iranian Revolution in 1979 overthrown the Iranian monarchic government and established a Shia Islamic regime which was strongly anti-American, it nationalized the Iranian oil industry, and it wanted to expand its influence in the Middle East, disputing the position of Saudi Arabia. The new Iran became a natural enemy of Saudi Arabia, which is a Sunni kingdom and a regional leader, and also it became an enemy of the US.
For these reasons, the US and Saudi Arabia strengthened their diplomatic relations in order to face the Iranian threat.
Answer: B) The United States and Saudi Arabia grew closer diplomatically due to the oil industry in the area.
Explanation: Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the United States and Saudi Arabia grew closer diplomatically due to the oil industry in the area. The need for protecting the vital oil concerns in the Persian Gulf was obvious for both countries: the U.S. needed oil from the region and Saudi Arabia needed to safely export it. This alliance has been a solid one in the decades since.