If there were any doubt as to just how toxic sectarian politics has become in the Middle East, the latest statement from the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah should clear things right up.
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of a group that has been fighting Israel for decades, declared on Tuesday that Wahhabism is more evil than Israel, Lebanons Al Akhbar newspaper reported.
In other words, things have gotten so bad that Hezbollah, Israels mortal enemy, now considers Wahhabis that is, fellow Muslims to be worse than Israel. Bear in mind, this is coming from the same man who has described Israel as a cancerous entity and the root of all the crises and wars and pledged that Israels destiny is manifested in our motto: 'Death to Israel.
But despite how it may seem, Nasrallahs statement is not, at its base, a conflict about religion. Though there are certainly strong religious disagreements between Sunni and Shia and especially between extreme fundamentalist Sunnis and extreme fundamentalist Shia the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia has little to do with dogma. Its actually about something far less exotic: power and influence.
http://www.vox.com/world/2016/9/27/13074560/hezbollah-israel-nasrallah-wahhabism-evil
That is interesting considering that one of Hezbollah's stated major goals is the destruction of Israel.