【明報專訊】SOME recent developments in the Middle East are having a profound impact on the region. They include the following. In Saudi Arabia, forty-seven prisoners were put to death. Among them was Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric. That raised an outcry in Iran, a Shiite state. Iranians stormed into Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran and caused severe damage there. Immediately, Saudi Arabia announced its decision to sever ties with Iran, and countries supporting Saudi Arabia and those supporting Iran moved separately. Bahrain and Sudan (in Africa), which like Saudi Arabia are Sunni states, broke off relations with Iran. The fight between the two Islamic powers in the Middle East is unlikely to end soon. It will inevitably impact on the situation in the region as it unfolds. It severely vexes America (which has long taken part in geopolitical games in the Middle East) how to keep conflicts there under control so as to prevent its interests and anti-terror plans from being marred.