Iran replaces US as Middle East power 9.48, Wed Aug 23 2006
A report claims Iran's influence in the Middle East has increased as a result of America's war on terror.
The report is called Iran, Its Neighbours And Regional Crises and it is written by researchers at the Royal Institute for International Studies in London, known as Chatham House.
It says: "There is little doubt that Iran has been the chief beneficiary of the war on terror in the Middle East.
"The United States, with Coalition support, has eliminated two of Iran's regional rival governments - the Taleban in Afghanistan in November 2001 and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in April 2003 - but has failed to replace either with coherent and stable political structures."
The report also says the recent conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have increased the instability.
One of the report's authors, Dr Ali Ansari said: "The United States needs to take a step back and reassess its entire policy towards Iran and work out, first of all, what does it want and how is it going to achieve it because at the moment everything is rather like putting a sticking plaster on a fairly raw wound and it is not really actually doing much at all."
The report's executive summary, says Iran has now replaced America as the most influential power in the Middle East.
