Faith and the Middle East: How religion could fuel a wider war
USA TODAY
The killing of Iran's supreme leader and ensuing Middle East instability could revive sectarian clashes and see religion emerge as a mobilizing tool.
With their Feb. 28 strikes on Iran, the United States and Israel have stoked Middle East conflict as part of a campaign that President Donald Trump said could last weeks or longer, aiming to cut short what he called imminent nuclear threats from Iran and cripple its military programs.
But the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in addition to ongoing instability, threatens to trigger a chaotic and drawn-out war involving Iranian and U.S. allies in the region and bring religious rhetoric and sectarian differences into play.
While not a religious conflict at its core, a widening regional war could see religion emerge as a galvanizing tool, said Nader Hashemi, director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
“Religion is not the driver of conflict in the Middle East,” said Hashemi, an associate professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at the school. “It’s the vehicle that is used to mobilize people in defense of political ideologies and causes.”
Hashemi said Khamenei’s killing has already stoked instability in many Muslim countries: Nearly two dozen protesters were killed in Pakistan, while demonstrations continue in Iraq, Bahrain, India and Lebanon.
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