THE TANGLED US-IRAN KNOT, Part 5: Iran's power rooted in Shi'ite ties

By Gareth Porter

PART 1: Change or deja vu? Obama divides Iran
PART 2: Iran urges Obama to start talks - now
PART 3: Economy, ties with West key to polls
PART 4: Is a US-Iran deal on the Middle East possible?

TEHRAN - As president-elect Barack Obama's national security team assesses the challenge of Iran's role in the Middle East, it confronts a paradox: Iran is seen as having ambitions of regional hegemony, but it lacks the military power normally associated with such a role.

That paradox is explained by the fact that Iran's position in the Middle East depends to a significant degree on its cultural, spiritual and political ties with other Shi'ite populations and movements in the region. That characteristic of Iranian foreign policy, which Iranian officials and think-tank specialists emphasized in interviews with this writer, poses some unique problems for the United States in opposing Iranian influence in the region