Arab Leaders Sweat Iran, Sunnis Start to See Shiite State as Bigger Threat than Israel

[Chicago Tribune] Frida Ghitis - Some Middle East observers have come to see signs of a dramatic realignment in the region that could transform relationships between long-standing friends and enemies. At the root of the change is Sunni Arabs' fear of Shiite Iran. "Every country in the Arab world, except Syria, has something to fear from Iran," said Ofra Bengio of Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. With its growing influence in what is now Shiite-dominated Iraq, its nuclear program, and a defiantly reinvigorated revolutionary regime, Iran may just be starting to keep Arab leaders awake at night. As a result, Sunni regimes in the Arab world, according to some observers, are beginning to see Iran, not Israel, as the country to fear.


2006-10-10 01:00:00

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