Iran the most important player in Iraq, expert says CAIRO: British Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent visit to the region was not only to address the growing debacle in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also to rally against Iran's growing power, a Middle East expert has said. "Conservative Arab regimes are worried about Iran's growing influence in Lebanon and Iraq and they don't want this influence extended to Sudan, professor of Political Science at Cairo University Ahmed Thabet told The Daily Star Egypt. Thabet believes Blair's visit was in part to try and convince what the US and UK refer to as "moderate Arab leaders to help Iraq from collapse, alleviate Western troubles there and to weaken Iran and its role in the region. "Blair is attempting to revive the Labour party after the Iraqi debacle and he's trying to introduce new initiatives in his remaining time as Prime Minister, Thabet added. Blair had arrived in Cairo on Saturday, his first stop in a Middle East tour before heading to Palestine and Israel as well as the United Arab Emirates. "Blair's motive was to gauge Arab leaders' opinions on Anglo-American intentions in the region, to put pressure on Abbas to call early elections and to prop up the current Lebanese government, Thabet told The Daily Star Egypt. He added that there was Anglo-American intent to weaken Sudan and break up Syrian-Iranian relations. Blair also made an unannounced stop in Iraq Sunday to show support for the Iraqi government and meet some of the 7,000 British troops stationed in the country. "Iran is now the most important player in Iraq, Diaa Rashwan from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic studies (ACPSS) told The Daily Star Egypt, "it has awesome influence in Iraq and most people recognized that before the war, but the American administration didn't. Rashwan added that there were two differences between Egypt and Iran which defined their respective policies, the main one being that Egypt is a US ally, and the second is the two countries' stance towards Islamic groups. "The current status of ties between Egypt and Iran are based more on their respective relations to the US, rather than their views on Islamic groups. It's mainly derived from American relations with Iran, and Egypt is a big American ally, Rashwan said. He added that Western countries want friendly Arab states to view Iran as a threat to the region, and that the Americans want Middle Eastern countries to fix the quagmire in Iraq, where Iran holds sway. "Iran's nuclear program is also a problem for the Americans, especially since Ahmadinejad came to power, Diaa said. He added that the US considers Iran's nuclear plans a danger specifically because of the strained relations between the two countries. Emad Gad, an expert on international relations at the ACPSS had previously told The Daily Star Egypt that he believes that any rapprochement between Egypt and Iran cannot be predicted with certainty because Ahmadinejad is the kind of person to make one statement one day, and a contradictory one the next. "I'm pessimistic relations will be strengthened, Gad said, "because of Ahmadinejad. He's conservative, dogmatic and narrow-minded. He can reverse things with a statement. He might revert on anything that happens. Gad told The Daily Star Egypt "If relations do improve between Egypt and Iran, this might also improve relations between Egypt and Syria, which has tempered of late. Blair had told the press in Cairo on Saturday that talk of a dialogue between the West and Syria and Iran, concerning quelling the turmoil in Iraq and the rest of the region, had been "overstated .
