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US unwittingly helped build irans clout Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/143447http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/143447
Report: U.S. unwittingly helped build Iran's clout
bloomberg news
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.24.2006
Iran's power and influence in the Middle East is growing, helped by the U.S.-led campaign against international terrorism and Iranian backing for Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to a London-based foreign-policy institute.
The Islamic Republic is involved in all the region's crises, "and its regional role is significant and growing," Chatham House said in a report released Wednesday. Iran's cultivation of relationships with neighbors is enhancing its status, and U.S. efforts to limit Iran's power haven't succeeded, it said.
Iran has defied U.S. and European Union calls to curtail its nuclear program, superseded the United States as the most influential force in Iraq, and reinforced its position in Lebanon by providing financial and military support to Hezbollah during the group's 33-day conflict with Israel, the study said.
Iran's insistence on pursuing uranium enrichment activities and its support for Hezbollah, which the United States and Israel designate as a terrorist organization, have been cited by America as reasons the U.N. Security Council should impose economic sanctions. The U.S. and several EU nations suspect Iran of trying to develop an atomic weapon.
The country, which holds the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves, says enriched uranium is needed to fuel power stations.
Iran said Wednesday that it's ready to hold "serious negotiations" on its nuclear program, a day after the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed that he wouldn't bow to U.N. demands to curtail the effort.
Chatham House said the American military inadvertently aided Iran by toppling two of its rivals, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Iran, which has a population of 68 million and shares borders with Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey and Pakistan, "is playing a longer, more clever game, and has been far more successful at winning hearts and minds," said Nadim Shehadi, a contributor to the report.
The development of ties between Iran and Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq since the fall of Saddam makes it a more important power broker in Iraq than the U.S., Chatham House said.
Chatham House noted signs of tension between Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Khamenei.
"Ahmadinejad neither holds an insurmountable position within Iran nor commands universal support for his outspoken foreign-policy positions," Chatham House said.
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