In the short time that the Muslim Brotherhood ruled Egypt, Hezbollah maintained a positive attitude toward the organization despite their differences over Syria and other issues. This was in part because Iran and Hezbollah could not ideologically stand against Egypt while it was under Islamist rule. Some observers believe that Egypt being ruled indirectly by the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide helped justify Iran being ruled by a supreme leader (vali al-faqih). The fall of the former, therefore, might also suggest that the people of the region are rejecting religious rule, including that in Iran, despite its advocates having used democratic means to gain legitimacy.
Hezbollah and Iran had other reasons to support Brotherhood rule in Egypt. For example, Brotherhood-ruled Cairo served as a competitor of Wahhabi-ruled Riyadh, creating a split in Sunni Islamist authority. Moreover, many Shiite parties reference the writings of Sayyid Qutb, the Muslim Brotherhood founder. Among such Shiites is the Islamic Dawa Party, to which Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki belongs. Some of Qutb’s writings have been translated into Persian and made part of the Khomeinist ideological curriculum in Iran.