Reply #12: But how would the rest of the M.E. react to that?

[Xithras]

You're right in that the Iranians have an opportunity to be the dominant party here, but there's some question about how the rest of the Arabs in the Middle East would react to seeing such a historically important Arab nation become a vassal state to the Persians. The hardcore jihadists have openly proclaimed their desire to see a new Caliphate established, and the Caliphate was an Arab empire, not a Persian one (on the contrary, the Persians vigorously fought the Caliphate every chance they had). The fundamentalists might react very badly to what might be perceived as a non-Arab takeover of Arab lands.