76
been the Khalifa. The word sense of Shia or Shiism is
supporters and followers.
151
The first thing that comes to minds is the Islamic
Republic of Iran when the Shia is mentioned. Iran is the only
country that Shia is practiced as government religion and a
real Islamic Revolution came true.
152
While at the first period of Islam the Sunni was
reigning at Iran, at the period between the Mongol invasion
and the establishment of a Safavid government and Iran
started to become Shia gradually. With the
first sovereign of
the Safavid dynasty Shah Ismail’s making Shia the formal
sect of the government, the political and religious union was
achieved at this period.
153
Since mentioned period, the rulers
of Iran used the Shia as the means by expanding at their
foreign policy and assimilating people at areas that they
conquered. In such way that, various propaganda campaigns
were conducted at neighboring and other Muslim countries
with the aim of forming a great Islam state by bringing all
Muslim countries together under the same roof of Shia.
154
The Middle East Policy of Iran and Shia
After the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran started to
use religion as a tool of his policy to Middle East. Iran tried
to create an image that the revolution was not only belonged
to Iran but also it was the revolution of all Muslims. That is
to say, according to 11
th
article of Iran constitution; the all
Muslims are a sole nation; The Islamic Republic of Iran
should work on providing the political, economic and
cultural union of Muslim world.
With the mentioned articles,
it simply shows that, the constitution was not only made for
Iran, it was also
made for all Muslim countries
155
.
Iran wanted to expand to
Middle East using religious
rhetoric to gain sympathy from Muslims. Because, Iran
151
Baki Öz, What is Alawism?, 4. b, İstanbul, Der pub., 2005, p.167
152
Oliver Roy, The Bankruptcy of Political Islam,
Metis pub., 2. b,
İstanbul, 1995, p. 220.
153
Hamid Ahmedi, The construction of National Identity of Iran, (tr.
Hakkı Uygur), Küre pub., I. b, İstanbul, 2009, p.109; İsmail Kayabalı,
Cemender Arslanoğlu, The War and Strategy at Middle East, Set Ofset,
1990, p. 98.
154
İsmail Kayabalı, Cemender Arslanoğlu, a.g.e., p.99.
155
Yurdanur Aksoylar Çetirge, From the Clove in Barrel to Sharia
, Bilgi
pub., 2. b, Ankara, 1997, p.151.
77
thought that the only way to get involved in
Middle East was
to use religious rhetoric. Otherwise Iran was aware that it
would face an Arab resistance at the area. The religious
rhetoric of Iran, was not influential except the areas where
Shia was intense, she was facing to serious resistance of
notably
Saudi
Arabia
and
other
Sunni-Arabic
governments.
156
Iran’s attempt of the export of regime to
Middle East
took its effect firstly on Iraq and some golf countries. In
response, some of the secular Arabic regimes confronted
Iran to prevent her expanding using religious rhetoric. The
war between Iran and Iraq had been a war, majorly for
prevent the expansion of Iran’s religious regime.
157
At this
war, Arabic governments who had relations with west, USA
and Israel supported Iraq. As a result, the policy of regime
export was prevented with the war of Iran and Iraq but the
revolutionaries in Iran gained power.
The support of Lebanon for Shiites created the other
section of the policy of regime exportation in Middle East.
Iran, even if she could not make the change of regime by
supporting the Shiites at Lebanon, she gained an important
place at Lebanon politics. In present time, Iran thanks to
strong relations she contacted with Shiites; she has a
fundamental role in both Lebanon politics and its relations
with other countries.
158
Despite the fact that Iran concentrated on its
religious reference rhetorically about its foreign policy,
occasionally, it exhibited an attitude that was far from the
mentioned rhetoric. For instance Iran’s relation with Syria
that is secular and has Arabic nationalism is not based on
religious references but it is almost always based on national
and strategic interests. As a matter of fact, Iran was not
reacted negatively to the Hama massacre at 1982 by, Syria
Baas government to the Sunni and it kept its warm relations
with Syria. Unlike it, Iran could not establish good relations
with other religious government Saudi Arabia at Middle
East.
156
Mehmet Şahin, “The religious Rhetoric of Foreign Policy of Iran”,
Academic
Middle East, C.2,P. 2, 2008, P.49
157
Nasr, Vali, “Regional Implications of Shi’a Revival in Iraq”,
The Washington Ouarterly, C.27, No.3, Summer, 2004.
158
Mehmet Şahin, a.g.m., p.52