Because the U.S., the U.K., and Israel are trying to drive Sunnis and Shi’ites apart. And you know they loved each other so much before the Western powers came along. From Reuters, with thanks to Doc Washburn:
TEHRAN (Reuters) – The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday the United States, Britain and Israel were an “axis of evil” trying to drive a wedge between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims.
President Bush originally labeled Iran, North Korea and Iraq — before U.S. troops invaded — as part of an “axis of evil.” Washington accuses Iran of backing terrorism and trying to build atomic bombs, charges Tehran denies.
“America, Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel) are an axis of evil against the Islamic world and the whole of humanity,” Guards Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi was quoted as saying by Iran’s student news agency ISNA.
“They are trying to make enmity among Islamic countries and to make divisions among Shi’ites and Sunnis,” he said.
He was echoing comments by other Iranian officials who have accused Washington of stoking sectarian tensions in Iraq where the majority of Iraqis are Shi’ite Muslims, like most Iranians. Washington blames Iran for fuelling violence in Iraq.
“Our powerful country does not worry about American and Zionist regime threats and in case of any kind of attack by intruders, we are able to defeat them,” he added.