Mick Hartley

Michael J Totten's latest:

According to a new study of public opinion by the folks who host the Doha Debates in Qatar, a clear majority in 18 Arab countries now thinks Iran poses a greater threat to security in the Middle East than Israel. The leadership in most of these countries has thought so for years. That average citizens now do so should be encouraging news for everyone in the region — aside from the Iranian government, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

Some may find it hard to believe that so many Arabs think Iran is more threatening than Israel, but I don’t. Leave aside the fact that Iran really is more threatening. Arabs and Persians have detested each other for more than a thousand years, ever since Arabs conquered premodern Iran and converted its people to Islam. The lasting ethnic enmity between the two is compounded by religious sectarianism. Most Arabs are Sunnis, most Persians are Shias, and Sunnis and Shias have been slugging it out with each other since the 8th century.

To reinforce the point, here's a MEMRI "special dispatch", citing recent articles in the Egyptian press warning of Iran's expanding influence and growing interference in the Arab world. For instance:

The editor of the government daily Al-Akhbar, Muhammad Barakat, pointed to Iranian involvement in all the problems of the Middle East, saying: "[Iran] does not hide its intentions and goals of [gaining] hegemony and control [over the region], now that the Persian state has grown in power, and its ambitions and greed have grown too…

"There has been a clear increase in the Iranian presence in Lebanon and Syria. Wedging its fingers firmly into Lebanon, Iran was able to [pull strings] overtly and in secret…  causing civil wars and instigating unrest [in the country]… at the expense of the Lebanese and the other Arab peoples…

"The presence of Iran's fingers is also felt in the Palestinian territories. It is they who are behind the hostility and division that prevail there. These black fingers… are the main cause of all the catastrophes that have befallen the Palestinian people in the recent period. [Iran] was behind the blood-soaked coup in Gaza, in which Hamas overthrew the legitimate Palestinian Authority there, and behind the resulting loss of the Palestinians' rights and the harm to their cause… [Iran] is also the main reason for the delay and the failure of the Palestinians' attempts to reconcile and smooth over their differences…"