Tehran is crucial to the project of checking US hegemony, thus invaluable to struggles elsewhere, especially in the Middle East and Latin America; at the same time, what Tehran does in pursuit of its perceived national interest creates various problems, above all in Iraq. (In this respect as in many others, Tehran is just like Moscow of Soviet days.) Tehran wants to prevent, at all costs, the rise of an anti-Iranian government that answers only to Washington, and it sees its support of all major Iraqi Shi'i factions and Kurdish leaders such as Jalal Talabani as the necessary means to that end. Now, that wouldn't be a problem if those whom it supports were made of better stuff, but it's clear that nearly all of them are of the sort who would not survive in power after the US withdrawal. Worse, their dirty deeds will be eventually understood by Iraqis and other Arabs as Tehran's own as much as Washington's.
Socialists in the West who are seeking a united front with populist Islamists in the Middle East, such as the Lenin's Tomb current, understand Iran's Iraq problem, but they have less than zero leverage in Iran, and so do their Arab socialist comrades. If there is to be any behavior change on Tehran's part at all, it has to come from behind-the-scenes criticisms of its Sunni Arab friends, from mass organizations that Tehran loathes to lose. -- Yoshie
<http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/riddell260407.html> Cairo Conference Calls for World Resistance against Imperialism by John Riddell
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The conference declaration paid homage to "the fierce resistance against the American occupation" of Iraq that "has pushed the U.S. administration into a hopeless swamp." Yet the resistance is menaced by an "ugly sectarian conflict" promoted by the occupying forces. "The resistance will not be able to liberate Iraq except through . . . turning the resistance into a unified national one that unites Shiites and Sunnis against the American occupant."
In this regard, several delegates criticized the role of the Iranian government in Iraq. One Lebanese delegate called on Iran to "cut relations with the Iraqi Shiite puppets, support the resistance, and really make things tough for the Americans."
However, a Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary representative cautioned that Iran's interest in Iraq is "legitimate." Iran is "a free country, taking orders from no one," he said, while the Arab regimes "simply carry out orders from the U.S." Still, in his view, "Iran could induce a shift toward unity in Iraq."
A Hizbullah leader said that "we must hold the Arab leaders responsible for the religious dispute in Iraq and not blame Iran." The conflict in Iraq is "more complicated than what has been said," he added. "I think Iran is trying to help the resistance -- that, at least, is what the U.S. is saying.
This issue was held over for further discussion.
All delegates agreed, however, on the urgent efforts to defend Iran's right to nuclear energy and oppose U.S.-led threats against Iran. The declaration declared that "we have to join our efforts to stop this crazy war by organizing protests, demonstrations, and campaigns all over the world." -- Yoshie