Iran Seeks to Become Major Mideast Player

Holding posters of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, young Lebanese men chant slogans during an anti-Israeli demonstration at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 18, 2006. Iran denies Israeli claims that it has dispatched advisers from the Revolutionary Guard, the military pillar of Iran's Islamic Revolution, and says it has not directly supplied longer-range missiles that have reached deep into Israeli territory. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) (Vahid Salemi - AP)

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian officials often say that places with the greatest troubles offer their country the best opportunities.

Iranian influence in Iraq has surged since the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. Its reach into Afghanistan continues to grow.

And now, the war in Lebanon could make Iran an even more important player in the Islamic world even as its militant Shiite Arab client, Hezbollah, gets pounded by Israel.

"Iran sees itself more than just the moral father of Hezbollah. Iran seeks to become a major force across the region as a counterbalance to America and Israel," said Ahmad Bakhshaiesh, a professor of political studies at Tehran's Azadi University.

"Lebanon is part of this plan," he said.

Already, officials and experts say that for any cease-fire or broader peace package to succeed, Iran's deep ties with Hezbollah must be taken into account.

Hezbollah could emerge from the battles severely weakened militarily, but with its reputation enhanced in the Muslim world for resisting Israel. That in turn would give Iran, a non-Arab country, an even higher profile in the Arab world _ a prospect that frightens the Jewish state.

Iran "is the main perpetrator, harborer, financier and initiator of terror and of which the Hezbollah... is only the proxy," Israel's U.N. Ambassador, Dan Gillerman, told reporters Thursday.

Iranian leaders have never fully disclosed the levels of financial and military help funneled to Hezbollah strongholds since its founding in the early 1980s. Iran also denies Israeli claims that it has dispatched Revolutionary Guard advisers and directly supplied longer-range missiles that have reached deep into Israel.

But many analysts in Iran and abroad believe Tehran remains firmly at the helm of all important Hezbollah decisions, including the cross-border attack last week that touched off the worst fighting in 24 years.

"Hezbollah simply would not have taken the brazen steps to create murder and mayhem without the assent _ if not the actual steering _ from Tehran," said Lawrence Haas, an expert on Hezbollah at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute in Washington.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki postponed a trip to India to remain in the region. A hard-line parliament member, Sayeed Abu Talib, predicted Iran could be positioning itself for eventual truce talks.