Reply #32: Why? Iran has shown that they are willing to [View All]

aid and ally with sunnis when it serves their interests. For example, Hezbollah, for all purposes an Iranian proxy, voiced support for their brethren in Gaza and attributed their attack last summer to a desire to help them by splitting Israel's focus over two fronts. And Iran has long counted Syria as one of their closest allies, despite their Sunni alignment.

Iran also showed a clear disregard for Shia life during its war with Iraq. Remember the "human wave" attacks? Iran was not exactly careful during that war to limit shia civilian casualties, were they?

Alliances depend on many factors, sect alignment is merely one. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, for instance have all but completely ceased to help the Palestinians since they sided with Iraq during the 1st gulf war. Now with Iran attempting to play a leadership role and unite various factions within the whole Islamic world, it makes sense for them to start bringing fringe elements such as Hamas into the fold. In the big picture, there is a schism in the Islamic world not only between Shia and Sunni, but between states supporting Western globalization and more open, democratic societies, vs. those that support a strictly Islamic throwback to yesteryear, with unity based on religion across the Islamic world and a common cause in fighting what they see as western corruption of their cultural heritage.

Iran could never lead the middle east flying a banner of conquest under shia dominance. Why would the Sunni people of Saudi Arabia desire that? Bur Iran strikes a chord with this disenfranchised population when they frame the debate in terms of Western hegemony and a shared religious calling. This places Iran and the people of S.A. on the same side against western secularism and the perceived sell-out rulers of S.A.

Support of the Palestinian cause, specifically the Islamic movement within, is both a finger in the eye of Western desires for the region, Israel's interests, and toadyish Arab states like Egypt, while also being a rallying cry of support for one of Islam's most enduring and potent symbols. A symbol that has been long seen as transcending the Sunni-Shia issue, it is the active front line of the cultural cold war between the east and the west, a war that has the power to unite all of Islam under a common cause.