The Observer view on Iraq protests and western indifference| Observer editorial
by Observer editorial from World news | The Guardian on (#4TK6J)
Iran's determination to shore up Iraq's unpopular government does not augur well for democracy in the Middle East
Iran's leaders say they have no wish to recreate the Persian empire in the present-day Middle East. Unlike the US, they say, Iran is not an imperialist power. That is not how it looks to many people in Lebanon, where Iran's close financial and military links to the country's leading Shia political organisation, Hezbollah, became the focus of angry anti-government street protests last week.
The benign view of Iran as friendly neighbourhood helper is also hard to square with its support for the Houthi rebellion in Yemen, where the death toll in four years of war has reached 100,000. This conflict resembles a classic proxy struggle between two external powers - Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia - that are each vying for regional dominance.
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