WASHINGTON, April 23: Caught unaware by the political assertiveness of Iraq’s Shia community, many of whom are friendly to Iran, the United States said on Wednesday it was telling Tehran to stay out of Iraqi politics.

“We’ve made clear to Iran that we would oppose any outside interference in Iraq’s road to democracy,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. “Infiltration of agents to destabilize the Shia population would clearly fall into that category.”

Fleischer said the message had been sent through “well-known channels of communication” with Iran, with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations.

The United States alleges Iranian-trained agents have crossed into southern Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein and are working to advance Iranian interests.

But Iran and Iraq have cultural ties dating back to the beginnings of civilization. Interaction between Iran and the south of Iraq has been especially close since Islam became Iran’s state religion in the 16th century.

Iraqi and Iranian religious leaders have moved between the two countries for centuries as teachers and community leaders.

Experts had told the White House that the Iraqi Shias would try to convert their demographic strength into a powerful political force as soon as the United States overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein.

Some of them also said the departure of Saddam would leave the door open to Iranian influence, which the United States cannot easily counter without compromising its declared commitment to let the Iraqis choose their own government.

But Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, a Shia without a religious following, persuaded the Pentagon and the White House that secular Shias could prevail, a US official said.

“Chalabi helped sell the idea of secular Shi’ism to them and gave the policy makers a sense of security,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress has failed to build a domestic constituency in the two weeks since the fall of Saddam, despite material support from US forces.

“I’ve heard rumblings their confidence in Chalabi is waning. The INC are like the Miami Cubans, who think they can go back from exile and run things,” the official said.

The Shias have shown their strength this week by marching in the hundreds of thousands to Karbala.—Reuters