For some reason, we have never been able to successfully establish control or develop solid ties with countries in the Middle East other than Israel. No doubt part of it has to do with the dominant religion in that area, but there is much more to that, religion is not the only thing. Israel has been the only country with which we had a long, sustained relationship over the years, but even that is on shaky grounds today as a rift appears to have developed!
Two of the biggest and supposedly influential countries in the region are Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both incidentally are predominantly of Sunni faith. Turkey is another country that is mostly Sunni, but Turkey does not have a state religion and is generally considered to be outside of the Arab world. We have maintained more or less friendly relations with all three of those countries for several decades, but the rest of the countries seem to go from one extreme to another. One day they are our "allies" and the next they are our enemies!
Iran has been a thorn at our side for several decades, ever since the country was taken over by Ayatollah Khomeni and his revolutionary guard in 1979. Ironically, Iran was our strongest ally in the region under the old Shah regime! But that was not to be the case with the new Iran.
We suffered through humiliation in the eyes of most of the world while our embassy staff was held hostage for a year, and we sat around doing nothing, or so it seemed. It was obvious that the new Iranian government didn't give a damn about international law regarding diplomatic immunity and played by their own rules! The United States, the "great satan," along with Israel had been identified as the sworn enemies of Iran in particular and Islam in general. They openly stated that their goal was to obliterate both the "great satan" and the "Zionists" from this world! That had been Iran's avowed policy since 1979 and it has not changed!
It was extremely important for us to keep Iran's influence in the region to a minimum, otherwise all other countries might swing in that direction! The old "domino theory" that we used to worry about during the old days of communism is very much alive in this case. It was obvious right from the start when Khomeni took over Iran that much like communists of old, they were going to export their ideology and try to get as many "converts" as they could.
Iran's first surrogate was born in 1982 when about 1500 Iranian Revolutionary Guards went to Lebanon and established a movement that was called Hezbollah. Today, Hezbollah has about 65,000 guerrilla fighters and are now a part of the Lebanese government and wield a lot of influence in that region. Hezbollah has also moved in to Syria and are now a part of that civil war! Hezbollah has also united with Hamas of Palestinian Authority. Hamas had reached out and proposed a united front.
From the start, both Hezbollah and Hamas had sworn to eliminate Israel from this earth. They were both created specifically to fight Israel!. Like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas is now a part of the Palestinian Authority government. Do you wonder why there is such a problem with negotiations between Israel and Palestinian Authority? Israel would be committing suicide if it agreed to a Palestinian state with a government that has Hamas in it!
It now appears that Iran's second successful surrogate is the Shiite Houthie rebel group that has just overtaken the Yemeni government and is in the midst of a power struggle with Al Qaeda and ISIS elements in that region. Although we were very heavily involved in supporting the old government and fighting Al Qaeda in the region, we have completely pulled out of Yemen, so it is now Iranian, for all practical purposes.
Our participation in nuclear talks with Iran has given Iran tremendous boost in prestige in the region. After all, if Iran can bring the world's most powerful nation to the negotiating table, they must be an "important" country, not some saber-rattling, rag-tag revolutionary group! To countries that are seeking "respect" and recognition, it is vitally important to have the United States recognize them as an equal and negotiate directly. That is why Kim Jong Un and North Korea is constantly acting up, insisting that the United States be the major player at all talks! Not everyone sees things the same way as we do. In some cases, what we see as failure is seen as success in some cultures!
Now, with Iran's very visible presence in Iraq fighting ISIS at our invitation, their stock has soared! To compound the situation for us, Iran is viewed as a more successful participant in the fight against ISIS than the U.S.! The Iranian "advisors" are actually participating in combat, side by side with the Iraqis, their involvement is very "visible" to the population, to the Arab press in particular. Our "advisors" are forbidden to engage in combat, so they are unseen and regarded as ineffectual. The lack of visibility of U.S. troops in combat is also seen as America's unwillingness to sacrifice American lives and instead use Iraqis in harms way. Of course that is not true, our advisors are in harms way even though they do not participate in direct combat. But, that is how it is perceived by the people in the region and the Iranians are not doing anything to dispel that view. Like I said, things are perceived different in that part of the world.
No doubt both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are feeling very nervous about the current situation. They don't want Iran to spread its influence, they don't want to be surrounded by a powerful Shiite coalition, which Iran could create. What a mess! That region has been a mess for a long, long time, and it isn't about to change any time soon. Unfortunately, it seems we have inadvertently helped make the region into even a bigger mess with the rise of Iran. Iran, it seems, will be the new power in the Middle East, unless someone stops their rise, which is unlikely to take place in this political climate.
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