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Source: http://jcpa.org/article/egypts-shiite-minority-between-the-egyptian-hammer-and-the-iranian-anvil/
Egypt's Shiite Minority: Between the Egyptian Hammer and the Iranian Anvil
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah - While some 90% of Egyptians are Sunni Muslims, the number of Shia in Egypt has been estimated at up to 2.2 million, including "Twelvers" and Ismailis. The new Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammad Morsi, is reported to have said that the Shia are more dangerous to Islam than the Jews, while former Muslim Brotherhood leader and presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh warned during the campaign that Shiism must not be allowed to enter Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood's initial enthusiasm for the Iranian revolution soon soured as it was increasingly perceived as a Persian nationalist and distinctly Shiite revolution. This perception became widespread in Sunni Arab societies after Iran attempted to export its revolution to Gulf Arab states, and after it formed an alliance with the Syrian regime, which was engaged in an open clash with the Brotherhood's Syrian branch. The writer was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.