Where Sadr goes, Iran goes

Moqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shiite leader, is sticking his nose into the Lebanon-Syria affairs.

Under tight security, Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq's Sadr Movement, arrived at the Lebanese-Syrian border Tuesday morning from Damascus in the hope of improving Lebanese-Syrian relations. He was asked by reporters at the border if he was playing the role of mediator between Lebanon and Syria.

Sadr said he had suggested this to Damascus, which was responsive to the idea. He said he would put the same suggestion to the Lebanese authorities, hoping they would be equally responsive.

"I am ready to help the Lebanese and Syrian governments to mend their ties and consequently to establish security in the region," he said.

Sadr's visit is part of a tour through Iraq's neighboring countries. "I represent the Iraqi people, or a section of the Iraqi people, but I hope we can help Lebanese and Syrians overcome their suffering so we, Muslims and Arabs, can live in fraternity," he said.

A curious development. Sadr is Iran's man in Iraq. Syria is already Iran's toady, so it is not immediately clear why Sadr would be needed to run interference for Iran in Syria. Iran just needs to pick up the phone.

Also, along with Iran's support of Sadr comes support from Hezbollah. Hezbollah is entrenched in Lebanon. Again, Iran already controls Hezbollah. Sadr is not needed to mediate between Hezbollah and Syria.

Sadr is not the statesman type, he is not a particularly educated individual. So, what is going on?

A month ago, Sadr pledged to defend Iran if Iran was attacked by the West. This pledge came while Sadr was in Tehran.

An Iraqi Muslim cleric who leads a major Shiite militia pledged to come to the defense of neighboring Iran if it were attacked, aides to the cleric, Moqtada Sadr, said Monday.

The commitment, made Sunday in Tehran during a visit by Sadr, came in response to a senior Iranian official's query about what the cleric would do in the event of an attack on Iran. It marked the first open indication that Iraq's Shiite neighbor is preparing for a military response if attacked in a showdown with the West over its nuclear program.

The pledge was also one of the strongest signs yet that Iraq could become a battleground in any Western conflict with Iran, raising the specter of Iraqi Shiite militias -- or perhaps even the U.S.-trained Shiite-dominated military -- taking on American troops here in sympathy with Iran.

The tour, which includes Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait may be a drive to boost the standing of Sadr in the eyes of the Iraqi people, to give Sadr more political power which, if obtained, would give Iran a bigger lever in Iraq.

Coming a month after Sadr's visit to Iran, surely this tour came out of that visit. And given Sadr's pledge then, this tour may be for the purpose of securing support for Iran ahead of the UN Security Council meeting, probably next month, at which Iran's nuclear program will be discussed.