Abstract
ABSTRACT Despite a growing body of analyses on sectarian tensions in the MENA, few have examined the impact of sectarian attitudes on public opinion towards the regional powers. Drawing from a statistical analysis of public opinion polls and the case study of Egypt and Sudan, the paper examines determinants of public attitudes towards Iran in the post-Arab spring era. The analysis indicates that public attitudes towards the regional player, i.e. Iran influenced by the alliance in the MENA. Although the Arab spring fuelled the negative sentiments towards Iran in the allies of Saudi Arabia, strong ties between Iran and the Islamist rule shaped positive attitudes towards Iran in Sudan. The analysis further reveals the impact of Salafi’s anti-Iran campaigns in Egypt. This campaign utilizes negative symbolism and ethnoreligious myths to depict Shias as an enemy and construct an existential threat from Iran. In this environment, the symbolic politics and emotionally laden hatred in the Arab countries explain the sectarian attitudes towards Shias and Iran.
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