Saudi King Abdullah invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an extraordinary summit of Muslim leaders to be held in Makka.

Tensions have been running high between the Sunni-dominated Saudi kingdom and Shia-dominated Iran as both regional powers had taken opposite stance on the uprisings in Bahrain and Syria. Iran had voiced support to a Shia-led uprising in Bahrain which Saudi Arabia had sent troops to crush last year.

In Syria, the kingdom had called for arming rebels against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad — who belongs to the Alawi minority, an off-shoot of Shia Islam — while Iran has been repeatedly accused of sending military aid to the Syrian government. Tehran has denied the claims.

Saudi Arabia called for the summit in a bid at “unifying the ranks” among Muslims. Saudi Arabia hosts the headquarters of the 57-member pan-Muslim body — the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, based in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.