Friend or foe?

[bemildred]

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So let's take a look at Iran's interests in Iraq, and how Tehran has gone about realizing those aims.

Contrary to Washington's presumptions, Iran's achievement of its objectives is not predicated on violence or the insurgency, but on the unfolding democratic process. The overarching Iranian aim is to prevent Iraq from once more emerging as a military or ideological threat.

Over the past two decades, an uneasy consensus has evolved within Iran that the cause of Iraq's aggressions was the Sunni domination of its politics. The minority Sunni sect sought to justify its political hegemony by embarking on pan-Arabist crusades, including the invasion of Iran and a determination to dominate the Gulf. Thus the empowerment of a friendlier Shiite regime is an essential objective for Iran.

Yet another important Iranian objective is to prevent Iran from fragmenting into three unstable entities. Iran is an intact and ancient nation whose boundaries do not suffer the artificiality of its Arab neighbors. Even so, Iran does possess a restless Kurdish population concentrated in the Azerbaijan province that could make a common cause with a Iraqi Kurdish state and agitate for autonomy.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/15/opinion/edtakeyh.php