Shia Iranians and Iraqis Religious Background

A little bit history of the Iranian Shia:

Iran’s population became Shia following the establishment of the Safavid state in 1501. Shiism has been the state religion until now except for a brief period when the Sunni Afghan occupied Isfahan in 1722.

Religion held the Iranian society together and the pressures and sanctions to behave in proper Shia Islam fashioned stemmed largely from Iranian public opinion.

On the other hand, Shiism in Iraq was wrapped around the strong Arab tribal value system. Unlike Iran, the Iraqi society was formed with the rise of Najaf and Karbala as the two strongholds of Shiism in the country which was original under the occupation of the Sunni Uthmani.

The majority of Shia Iranians are of Persian ethnic origin. The Iraqi Shias are Arabs (with tribal attributes and moral values). The merchant class in Iran (Bazaris) had close relationship with the Shia Ulamas and was willing to spend their wealth on religious causes. The Iraqi merchant class as a whole was unwilling to channel funds to support religious causes and institution.

The rise of Iranian monarchy in the 19th century (Reza Shah and Muhammad Reza Shah) lessens the power of clergy in Iran but didn’t completely eradicate cleric’s influence.

In Iraq however, the Sunni Iraqi rulers (Iraq was a Sunni state for the most of 19th and 20th century) dealt a severe blow to Shia Islam and eradicated the power of clerics completely.

Reference
Yitzhak Nakash, The Shia of Iraq, 1994, Princeton University Press, ISBN: 13579108642