The Middle East has been a controversial topic of discussion for decades. The struggle for religious power and dominance has caused disagreements, wars and hostilities in all countries residing in that region. The Iranian revolution of 1979 caused much of the problems plaguing the Middle East today. These problems continued into the 2000s and continue to affect trade and relations in the region. The Middle East is known as a hotbed of terrorist activity. This region has been an area where terrorist groups have formed and terrorist operations have been conducted, as well as a location with high sponsorship of terrorism. This is one of the main reasons for US involvement in the Middle East. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay On September 11, 2001, a terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda caused chaos in the United States by hijacking four separate planes and destroying the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. Immediately after the events of September 11, the United States declared war on terrorism, which increased the American military presence in the Middle East. This led to a major increase in US troops in Iraq in an attempt to destroy Al-Qaeda. This led to an 8-year war in the country. After 9/11, Iraq was a place of war. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq with the hopes of overthrowing leader Saddam Hussein. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government, the country opened up to influence. This has resulted in Iran's growing interest in the country. Iran saw this as an opportunity to increase its hold in the Middle East. First, Iran wanted the United States to leave Iraq so they could begin their plans to influence the country. Secondly, they wanted to keep the Shia government in power. Third, they want to use Iraq as a tool to expand their reach in the region. After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's government, largely due to the United States, a new government was in power. Most of the country ran this government. Iraq's Shiite Islamic majority was in power, and ultimately this boded well for Iran. To take advantage of the new Iraqi government, Iran needed the United States to leave the country. Iran needed them to leave the country so that the borders would not be protected. This would allow Iran to send its goods across the border and start selling its products in the country, effectively increasing its influence. This would also open up the opportunity to reach other areas of the Middle East. They used the shared border with Iraq to get to Syria. They funded militias fighting against Iraq and sent Shia militias to fight with Iraq on the Syrian border. This shows that Iran has two different ideas about what it wants to do with Iraq in the long term. It could create a failed state by fighting the government or help maintain a Shiite government and use Iraq as a resourceful ally. It is not clear, however, which side will work harder to achieve this goal. Each of these options ensures that Iraq will never again pose a military threat to Iran. This is Iran's goal in terms of its overall involvement in Iraq. Keeping the Shiite government in power is of great importance to Iran because it provides them with an unusual ally regarding religion. Since most countries in the Middle East are Sunni, this poses a problem for Iran which is majority Shiite. Before theevents of 9/11, a Sunni minority government ruled Iraq. This caused problems between the two countries, including a terrible war in the 1980s. After this war, Iran increased its military strength to ensure that it was not vulnerable to attack. Iran's third objective in Iraq is to support Iraqi federalism. There are two aspects to the idea behind this support. The first thing behind this support is to divide Iraq into three regions. Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions. Dividing Iraq has a great advantage for Iran. It weakens the government and increases the power Iran has over Iraq. The second aspect is to create a Shiite Islamic state in southern Iraq. Having a Shiite state in southern Iraq would help Iran strengthen relations and thus give it high influence over the country as a whole. Iran does not want Iraq to become a democratic state that can be used by the United States. This would make Iran look bad and force it to change its beliefs to one different from that of Iraq. This would be the only way to try to demonstrate that the Islamic State must stay away from Western influence. Iran has shown a lot of interest in Iraq and how much influence it intends to have on the future of the nation's governance. In addition to influencing the government structure itself, Iran also intends to have a role in religion. There are currently two religious leaders in Iraq. Ali al-Sistani who does not believe that the Iranian government is beneficial to Iraq. He believes Islamic law should be in place, but clerics should not rule the country as they do in Iran. The second is Moqtada al-Sadr who advocates greater religion in political practices. He is also known to have much stronger ties to Iran and has agreed to fight alongside the Iranians if the US were to attack. This provides Iran with a powerful religious leader in Iraq who could potentially implement religious-based rule in politics that would benefit Iran. One similar to theirs. Politically, Iran has a lot of interest in Iraq. They also showed interest from a military point of view. Since 2014, Iran has provided Iraq with military aid to help it fight ISIS. Iran has also placed some high-ranking military officers in Iraq. They also placed a series of billboards showing the face of a senior official. This demonstrates the new influence Iran has on Iraq, especially in the capital Baghdad. One of the main groups in Iraq showing Iranian influence is the Saraya al-Khorasani. Ayatollah Khamenei formed the group to fight Sunni jihadists in Syria and Iraq. The leader was General Taghavi who appeared on billboards in Iraq. He inspired many of Iraq's Shia soldiers. The main purpose of the Iranian military presence in Iraq is to fight terrorism. Both the United States and Iran have shown a strong interest in Iraq and in ending the terrorist threat in the country. This is great for Iraq and has proven to be a great success with the liberation of almost all ISIS-held cities. Added to the advantages for Iraq are the disadvantages for Iran. Having US help with the terrorism problem in Iraq creates some problems for Iran. Under the new president, Donald J. Trump, Iran faces further sanctions and a possible renegotiation of the nuclear treaty. This could potentially make it difficult for Iran to continue its influence in the country. The topic of the Middle East becomes increasingly controversial as the United States and Iran both battle for greater influence. Since the events of September 11, Iraq has been a place full of violence and changes in government. With the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Shiites took control and. 2018].