Before the mullahs took power in Iran Shias had no image problem. They were generally seen as peaceful people who minded their own business. There was nothing to link them with crime, sabotage or terror. Things changed once the mullahs seized control of Iran and soon Shias became unfairly associated with sabotage, terror, murder and treason. Nowhere is this process more evident than in Lebanon where many Shias are now viewed as mercenaries because of their association with Hizbullah, a party known to promote Tehran's agenda. Shias as a whole suffer from this association with Iran, a country involved in many conflicts, some with no relevance to the Lebanese. A majority of Lebanon's Shias oppose Hizbullah but the damage has been done. Iraq's Shias used to be beacons of intellectual and artistic life until Tehran stepped in. As Iran's mullah-controlled regime started recruiting in Iraq the reputation of the Shia community suffered. Iraq's Shias are now blamed for Iran's various misdeeds despite many of them being opposed to Iranian meddling. In Palestine a similar story is unfolding. Iranian support for Hamas has promoted divisions between Sunnis and Shias on the Palestinian scene. Iran is giving Hamas financial and logistical support in the hope of winning greater leverage in the region. In particular, it is doing so in order to put pressure on the US. Iran's mullahs are using the Palestinians as pawns in a regional power game. They want to create a new status quo at the expense of the Palestinians and their dream of an independent state. Iran is seeking to manipulate all Islamic movements, whether Shia or not, and bend them to its own ends. In the end, though, it is the Shias who suffer most. Across the world they are unfairly associated with the vicious regime of mullahs. The Shias and their religious institutions allow Iran to push them around. They could have denounced the destructive tendencies of Iran and distanced themselves from Tehran, which is now helping Al-Qaeda operatives kill Shias in Iraq. They have not done so. Not one of Iraq's Shia clerics has denounced Iran and its gimmicks. Tehran has tarnished the image of Shias across the world. Surely it is time for them to begin clearing their name? Some members of the Egyptian and Arab elite pose as defenders of the Iranian cause. So what if Tehran develops nuclear weapons, they say. Doesn't Israel possess them? In defending Iranian actions in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon, they claim that Tehran is standing up to Israeli and American schemes. This is nonsense. We would all do well to remember that the mullahs of Iran, once they acquire nuclear weapons, will be tempted to use them to bully the Arabs and Egyptians in the same way that the Israelis and Americans do. It is unacceptable for Arabs and Egyptians to support the Iranian regime when the latter is sending demonstrators into the streets to denounce Arab rulers. There is no honour in defending Tehran's hardliners as they level abuse at Egyptian leaders, past and present. The Iranian mullahs glorify the murderers of president Sadat. They denounce the regime of President Mubarak. They raise slogans that are hostile to Egypt. Yet Egypt has sacrificed over 120,000 lives in wars against Israel. Iran hasn't sacrificed one. All Tehran has done is give money and support to Hizbullah and Hamas in return for them undermining the higher interests of their countries. Which is not to say Arab regimes are blameless: they have failed to agree a common regional strategy let alone to coordinate and confront the threats emerging from Tehran as the mullahs promote an agenda that will be as detrimental to Arab interests as Israel's own scheming.
