“A precise set of reasons can be highlighted to determine why Iran will not achieve the hegemonic status it aspires to in the region.

The Near East and the Gulf regions have a tendency not to accept a single power ruling the whole area, and this since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The 20th century has seen four main contenders for this role: the Arab Nationalist camp – mainly Syria and Egypt, the religious conservatives – financed and armed by Saudi Arabia, the United States and the USSR. The present turbulent period does see a number of players unwilling to give up their regional ambitions. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are, all with their own rationale, deeply devoted in gaining unparalleled regional power, while none of them is truly sympathetic of Iran.

Along with that first point, Iran does not have the ability to market itself as a viable cultural hegemony. Its radical brand of militant shi’ism may have a foothold in Lebanon and Iraq but does not represent a model for the rest of the region. In other words, few Arabs are actually looking up to Iran as the true social example they aspire for.”

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