A delegation of Iraqi Sunnis traveled to Cairo with unfriendly things to say about Iran:

An Iraqi Sunni delegation on a visit to Cairo on Wednesday urged Arab countries to act against what it called the "Iranian occupation" of Iraq.

"We would like a common Arab position to save Iraq and its people ...(in the face of) the Iranian occupation," Sheikh Majid Abdel Razzak al-Ali Suleiman said after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

"Such an Arab position, led by Egypt, is necessary to weaken Iran's role in Iraq, because if Tehran occupies this country, it will occupy other Arab countries too," said the head of the Dulaim tribe, which is concentrated mainly in Anbar province, west of Baghdad.

There's more than a grain of truth in what the Sunnis are saying. As I wrote in a lengthy Nation piece recently, quoting Chas Freeman, "The American military occupation of Iraq has facilitated an Iranian political occupation of Iraq." But it's important to remember that most Iraqi Shia are not supporters of Iran. The great Shia "silent majority" is intimidated by the power of the armed militia organized by pro-government religious parties.

Iraq's ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaida'ie, said this week that "the majority of Shi'ites in his country maintain strong nationalistic ties to Iraq," according to the Washington Times. "In fact, the Iraqi Shi'ites presents a threat to the Iranian state rather than the other way around," said Sumaida'ie.