17 December 2004 With the date fast approaching for the first parliamentary elections since Saddam Hussein was toppled, Baghdad’s neighbors are already fretting about the likely outcome: a Shiite majority for the first time in modern Iraqi history. That could lead to a dramatic shift in the geopolitical balance between Shiite and Sunni Muslims across the Middle East. Expressing the concerns of many in the region, Jordan’s King Abdullah last…
Tag: Rafsanjani
Not-So-Blind Eye
21 April 2000 For years, Iran turned a blind eye as Iraq smuggled thousands of barrels of oil a day across the Iranian part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway into the Gulf. No longer. A combination of factors, including Tehran’s very understandable desire to protect its own interests, has prompted a well-publicized clampdown on the illegal trade, leading Tehran to seize 10 vessels in one 24-hour period two weeks ago….