The new direction of Syrian arguments is about picking a side in the Sunni-Shia conflict.

Pro-Russian partisans accuse Saudi Arabia of being less democratic and more repressive than Iran, and of using Islamist groups including AQ and IS the way Iran uses the IRGC.

They highlight Iran's relative "freedom of religion" compared to KSA, the fact that women can drive in Iran, etc. The Al-Nimr execution has brought this line of argument to the fore.

However, upon closer examination, the Iranian regime is more bloodthirsty. They execute at least 3X more people per year than the KSA and have killed 12,000-15,000 in waves of purges against the Tudeh and other opponents to Khomeini. In contrast, Saudi political bloodletting from '79 to present is several hundred.

In addition, there is Hezbollah, Hamas and the IRGC to contend with, which are either arms of the Iranian state or sponsored by them. Private donations aside, the Saudis have nothing comparable.

Anyone care to add more?