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Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the No. 2 in Iran's political hierarchy, admonished Saudi Arabia for not doing enough to support the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in their fight against Israel, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported July 26. His statements followed Saudi criticism of Hezbollah for having started the conflict with Israel. Rafsanjani reminded Saudi King Abdullah that the Palestinians and Lebanese are parts of the Islamic nation, in statements intended to embarrass the kingdom. He added that psychological war and instigating conflict among Muslim countries regarding the Israeli offensive in Lebanon are evil policies of Islam's enemies, and accused the Saudis of creating friction between Muslim states and playing into the hands of the United States and Israel.

Such remarks will contribute to an escalation of Middle Eastern sectarian tensions, which have simmered since the rise of the pro-Iranian Shia in Iraq. These tensions have been sharpened with the recent crisis in Lebanon. A number of factors make a regional Sunni-Shiite war unlikely in the region, however, contrary to the widespread belief that sectarian violence in Iraq could spill out beyond its borders. The tussle involving Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel has complicated the Sunni-Shiite divide. This dynamic will limit the ability of Iran to become a regional powerhouse, and will confine the Iranian-Arab struggle to the borders of Iraq.

While we are currently witnessing a manifestation of the Iranian-Arab struggle within Lebanon, the Lebanese conflict will be short-lived because of the involvement of multiple actors with multiple interests. Moreover, Iran can not control Lebanon without Syrian help, and neither Damascus nor Tehran has complete control of Hezbollah.