"The new Iraqi Shiite regime, if left alone to do as it wishes, will be a natural ally of Iran. ;-)" - Little Hawk

Wanna bet? Ever had a look at the make up of Iran LH?

The main ethnic groups are Persians (51%), Azeris (24%), Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%), Kurds (7%), Arabs (3%), Baluchi (2%), Lurs (2%), Turkmens (2%), Laks, Qashqai, Armenians, Persian Jews, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians, Tats, Mandaeans, Gypsies, Brahuis, Hazara, Kazakhs and others (1%).

Not much of an Shia Arab population is there LH?

Having looked up the make up of Iran LH, take a look where their oil is concentrated - Khuzestan in the South West corner of Iran. Have a guess where the 3% population of Iran's Arabs live LH?

Now look into how well the Arabs and the Persians get along Little Hawk - Hint, not at all.

Natural ally of Iran eh? In that part of the world I would not take anything for granted.