Stemming from a schism linked to questions of succession to the Prophet Mohammed, who died in 632, these two currents of Islam sometimes clash in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Shiites are a minority in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Iran is a Shiite religious state that asserts its power in the region by supporting its allies, notably Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. It is opposed to Saudi Arabia, a Sunni power that is strengthening its influence through its alliance with the United States and by financing the spread of Wahhabi Islamist ideology.