A change in Iran could reshape the Middle East

still young Lebanese group called Hizbullah set out its manifesto. The “Party of God”, as its name means in Arabic, promised to fight Israel and the West and urged its countrymen to establish an Islamic state. Many Lebanese thought it would be a passing fad. Almost 40 years later it is the country’s strongest militia, better equipped than even the army. It is a key to Lebanon’s politics. Hizbullah has been the most successful example of . Since 1979 the region has been shaped by its conflict with Saudi Arabia. Iran saw several reasons to befriend regimes and cultivate proxy militias. It hoped to spread its Islamic revolution and stride forth as a defender of its Shia Muslim co-religionists. It also sought a sort of strategic depth. Some of its leaders felt a degree of Persian chauvinism towards Arabs, particularly those in the Gulf.