BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran has played many political roles in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein: spoiler to American-crafted administrations, haven for Iraqi political outcasts and big brother to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government.

Now add a new description as emergency repairmen trying to keep al-Maliki's coalition from splitting at the seams.

Iran appears to be supporting a member of Tehran's ruling theocracy, Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, as eventual successor for Iraq's 81-year-old Shiite spiritual leader. Such as change would virtually cement Iran's grip on Iraqi affairs and introduce a sharply different philosophy on clerical sway in politics.

Originally posted by KnawLick
reply to post by OpinionatedB

---

Somebody of Arab decent... Pretty much the only way to define it sorry... If I'm German but live in America am I not German anymore...

Baghdad: 8th century AD

In their new city of Baghdad the Abbasid caliphs adopt the administrative system of the long-established Persian empire. Persian Muslims are as much involved in the life of this thriving place as Arab Muslims. Here Islam outgrows its Arab roots and becomes an international religion. Here the Arabic and early Persian languages coalesce to become, from the 10th century, what is now known as Persian - combining words from both sources and using the Arabic script. Here Mesopotamia briefly recovers its ancient status at the centre of one of the world's largest empires.

At no time is this more evident than in the reign of the best-known of the Abbasid caliphs, Harun al-Rashid.










The luxury and delight of Harun al-Rashid's Baghdad, in the late 8th century, has been impressed on the western mind by one of the most famous works of Arabic literature - the Thousand and One Nights. Some of the stories are of a later date, but there are details in them which certainly relate to this period when for the first time a Muslim court has the leisure and prosperity to indulge in traditional oriental splendour.

The caliphate is now at its widest extent, with reasonable calm on most borders. The international fame of Harun himself can be judged by the emphasis of Charlemagne's biographers on the mutual esteem of these two contemporary potentates, who send each other Rich gifts.


Read more: www.historyworld.net...

Originally posted by bekod
reply to post by dayve

---

not to get off topic but have you herd of NAFTA? the plan is USA MEXICO CANADA to become as one.