Iran’s role in the Middle East

Re “Iran Was on Edge; Now It’s on Top,” news analysis, Feb. 18

The Times’ analysis of the political and religious intrigues in the Middle East missed a glaring contradiction in Iran’s support of Palestinian Hamas: Unlike Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group that Iran supports, Hamas members are Palestinian Arab Sunni Muslims -- ideological and ethnic enemies of the Iranian non-Arab Shiites. Sunnis and Shiites have been locked in internecine conflicts in Pakistan and Iraq. Only the desire to eradicate the Jewish state makes them pragmatic bedfellows for the present.

RICHARD FRIEDMAN

Los Angeles

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Regarding the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s, this article suggests that Iran attacked Iraq because it blocked Iran from access to the wider Sunni Muslim world. In fact, Saddam Hussein attacked Iran, not the reverse. Although the authors are correct in noting the benefits Iran has accrued from our overthrowing of Hussein, they mislead in their effort to attribute other developments over the past quarter of a century to ongoing Iranian efforts at expanding its influence in the region.

CHARLES D. SMITH

Professor, Near Eastern Studies

University of Arizona, Tucson

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Iran’s stature and influence are perceived to be growing in the region, worrying such neighboring nations as Jordan and Syria. When added to the growing concern in Israel and the European Union over Iran’s nuclear threat, this puts Iran in the crosshairs of the region’s next major military conflict. They are playing right into the hands of the U.S., which would love to take out Iran. Unlike with Iraq, this time there will be international support for an invasion.

BOB JACK

North Las Vegas, Nev.