Is Iran the Leader of a Shia International?

http://www.lobelog.com/is-iran-the-leader-of-a-shia-international/#more-27931

by Shireen Hunter
The Shias of Yemen, who now control the capital city of Sanaa, are threatening to take political power by force if negotiations for a power-sharing agreement fail. These advances by the Zaidi Shias—variously known as the Houtis after the name of their first leader Hussein Badreddin Al Houti, or Ansar Ullah, as they prefer to be called—have again raised the specter of a so-called Shia Crescent.
This time, however, the fear of a Shia Crescent has been accompanied by talk of a rising Iranian Empire, based on the assumption that Iran controls the Shias throughout the world. For example, some commentators have mentioned that Iran now controls four capitals in the Middle East: Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus, and now Sanaa.
In addition to the fact that Iran is not in control of these capitals, such comments display a stunning ignorance of Shiism and its various sects. Similarly, such commentators do not seem to be aware that politics in places with substantial Shia populations are not primarily determined by religious factors. Ethnicity, language, and issues of power and influence play much more important roles. http://www.lobelog.com/is-iran-the-leader-of-a-shia-international/#more-27931