The rest are Shia.

Why are Iranians Shiites?

For the Shia are the biggest of Lebanon s three religious communities.

From the regime s point of view, however, Shia Iran is now the most serious security threat.

Rubio the Shia of Iran are our mortal enemy is anyone listening to this shit!

This is notably the case where entrenched groups Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis compete for central power.

But non Wahhabi Saudis, mainly the Shia, continue to resist state dogma.

Kurds have a much more egalitarian view of gender relations than either Sunnis or Shi ites.

Pakistani Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a protest against the Shiite Muslims target killing.

Some Shia may turn to militia leaders, Sunnis to insurgents, and Kurds to leaders demanding independence.

But contrary to common perception, Iraqi Shiites do not form a homogenous block that opposes the supposedly unified Sunnis.

Though Lebanon has not conducted a reliable census in decades, its population is thought to be about 30 Sunni Muslim, 30 Shia Muslim, and 30 Christian, with Druze and others accounting for the rest.

For many years, these regimes whether the Shia of Iran or the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia succeeded in suppressing pluralism and individuality.

In Iraq, about 60 are Shia, 20 are Sunni Arabs, and 20 are Kurds, who are mostly Sunni.

Since 2001, Shia Hazaras in Balochistan, have routinely been targeted by militant groups.

Saudi Arabia s Shia, an economically and politically marginalized community, staged an unprecedented intifada in the towns of Qatif, Saihat, Safwa, and Awamiyya.

In the light of Iraqi nationalism that crosses sectarian boundaries, it is farfetched to consider the Iraqi Shia merely proxies of Iran.

Nor is it likely that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others will sit passively while the Persian Shia gain the bomb.

Displaced Shi a tend to move from the center of the country to the south, Sunnis from the south to the center, and Christians to Nineveh province.

But the key question concerning the future of the country remains will Shia, Sunnis, and Kurds will unite behind a functioning central authority?

But Sunnis and Shi a are now killing one another in increasing numbers, and the new aggressiveness of US forces will make compromise all but impossible.

The Shiites back Hezbollah because it appeals to their communal pride, represents their interests domestically, and stirs their religious passions.

Indeed, with Shia Arabs and Kurds making up 80 of the country, the insurgency is focused on only four of Iraq s 18 provinces.

Some 70 of the Arab world s population is Sunni, and the Shia are a minority in every Arab country except Iraq and Bahrain.

In Saudi Arabia, it is difficult even for Muslims who don t adhere to the ultra orthodox Wahhabi sect Shiites, for example, routinely face discrimination.

Despite the vulnerability of minorities, the religious breakdown of displaced people closely reflects that of the country 64 Shi a, 32 Sunni, and 4 Christian.

Iraqi Shia have never accepted Iranian dictates, and many took part in Saddam s war against Iran in the 1980 s.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt claims that Shiites are always loyal to Iran, while King Abdullah of Jordan has coined the axiom about a rising Shiite crescent.

In cities like Beirut and Baghdad, mixed neighborhoods have been homogenized, as Sunni and Shia seek shelter from sectarian attacks and civil war.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt claims that Shiites are always loyal to Iran, quot while King Abdullah of Jordan has coined the axiom about a rising Shiite crescent.

Baghdad's long suffering population, with its majority of alienated Shi'ites and a million disaffected Kurds, is unlikely to remain unmoved by the imminent arrival of US and British troops.

Indeed, the empowerment of Iraq s long suppressed Shia has raised expectations among Saudi Arabia s Shia that they, too, can gain first class status.

The Shia focus on political reforms that would reflect their majority status. Aggrieved Sunnis, however, want socio economic changes, such as affordable housing. And, whereas Egyptian protesters of all types found common ground in insisting that President Hosni Mubarak resign, Bahrainis will find it almost impossible to agree on a rallying cry.

The world is increasingly fragmenting, with fearful people embracing smaller, defensive identities Scottish, Catalan, Flemish, Sunni, Shia, Kurdish, and so on.

Until the US led invasion, Iran, alongside Syria s Alawite regime, was the only country where Shia controlled the state.

It was obvious that the Shi'ites were a force to be reckoned with, and we would do well to understand them and learn how to deal with them.

They have a point with the Shia in power in Iraq, Iran will seek suitable opportunities to use local Shia populations as proxies to assert its hegemonic claims.

The Shia dominated government of former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki played a decisive role in radicalizing Iraqi Sunnis and convincing them to support ISIS.

Candidate Marco Rubio, a junior Florida senator, was not afraid to fall into strong polemics, casting the Shia of Iran (Iran is a majority Shia Islamic nation) as the mortal enemies of the United States.

There is no power save a new violent dictatorship that can bring Shi a, Sunnis, and Kurds to live once again in one body politic.

By contrast, 75 of Iraq s population is composed of Shi a Muslim Arabs, who know that they will control the new regime, and Kurds, who want local autonomy. Thus, a vast majority of the population were sure that a democratically elected government would serve their interests and eagerly participated at the polls.

Three elections have produced some degree of legitimacy for the Shia dominated Iraqi government, but without a sense of community and effective institutions, elections merely create a tyranny of the majority.

By contrast, 75 of Iraq s population is composed of Shi a Muslim Arabs, who know that they will control the new regime, and Kurds, who want local autonomy.

A country like Iraq, for example, is home to a diverse and varied population Arab and Kurd, Sunni and Shi ite, not to mention minorities of other religions and ethnic groups.

For example, units of the People s Liberation Army are engaged in dam and other strategic projects in the restive, Shia majority region of Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan held Kashmir.