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Wary of U.S., Syria and Iran Strengthen Ties

(New York Times) Michael Slackman - For a long time, the top-selling poster in Hassan al-Sheikh's gift shop in Syria showed President Bashar al-Assad of Syria seated beside the leader of Hizballah in Lebanon. A few weeks ago a different poster overtook it, with the Syrian president, the Hizballah leader, and Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sheikh's shop is beside the entrance to a Shiite shrine packed with Iranian pilgrims, many more than in years past. Iran and Syria are tightening relations on several fronts as power in the region shifts away from the once-dominant Sunni to Shiites, led by Iran. Spurred by the growing belief in Arab capitals that the Bush administration may soon negotiate a deal with Tehran over Iraq and nuclear weapons, Arab governments once hostile to Iran have begun to soften their public posture after decades of animosity toward Tehran. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt met Iran's national security chief, Ali Larijani, in Cairo recently, and Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, visited Tehran this month and declared the two nations to be good friends.
2006-06-26 00:00:00
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