Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said the United States may seek Iran?s help in quelling the insurgency in Iraq . The US government is interested in addressing two key issues: (1) Iran?s funding of Iraqi Shiite militia groups and (2) the ease with which insurgents crisscross the Iran/Iraq border. There are multiple factors that suggest the US and Iran could engage successfully in a mutual assistance policy toward Iraq. Unfortunately, there are also lingering issues between the two countries that may prohibit cooperation. Regardless of the outcome, it is a significant policy development that the ideologically driven Bush administration is even contemplating working with Iran, a member of the so-called ?axis of evil.?

The US and Iranian governments certainly share an interest in stabilizing Iraq. It is the current mission of Coalition forces to produce a democratically elected Iraqi government that is capable of equitably enforcing law and order. Additionally, thousands of US soldiers could return home. Iran?s Shiite theocracy is similarly interested in seeing the Sunni-led insurgency dismantled, a Shiite dominated government elected, and a civil war on its border avoided. Indeed, Ayatollah Khamenei , Iran?s Supreme Leader, called for Iraqis to vote in the October 15, 2005 constitutional referendum and described the event afterward as a ?great and blessed job.?