A high-up official of Egypt's Al Wafd political party is taunting the United States over Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying in effect that Washington is a paper tiger.

"Though the United States acts as the guard dog of the Zionist regime, they still haven't been capable enough to deal with Iran and its nuclear program," said Ahmad Ezz Al-Arab, the deputy director of Egypt's nationalist liberal Al Wafd Party.  His political column was published this week in Tehran's Keyhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Al-Arab said the eruption of the "Arab spring" revolutions have reduced U.S.-Israeli influence in the region.  "As such, the continued U.S.-Israeli banging on the drums of war against Iran is nothing more than empty threats; not only does it not strike fear in anyone's heart, no one really believes it anymore."

Citing a July 19^th analysis in Stratfor Global Intelligence, Al-Arab said the United States and its "collaborator," Saudi Arabia, are shocked by Iran's influence and self-reliance in the oil-rich Middle East and Persian Gulf regions.

The Stratfor article says:

The United States, lacking a coherent strategy to deal with Iran and too distracted to develop one, is struggling to navigate Iraq's fractious political landscape in search of a deal that would allow Washington to keep a meaningful military presence in the country beyond the end-of-2011 deadline stipulated by the current Status of Forces Agreement. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, dubious of U.S. capabilities and intentions toward Iran, appears to be inching reluctantly toward an accommodation with its Persian adversary (Iran).

Al-Arab says Iran will capitalize on these conditions and attempt to restore the "dominance of the forces of the world's oil arteries."  Iran, he says, believes that the United States will be forced to stop its "confrontational stance" against Tehran.

The Egyptian politician maintains that because of the ongoing activities by al-Qaida and the "September 11th incident against this Great Satan, America," Iran's enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq have been crippled and Iran "was able to fill the power vacuum with its Iraqi allies and spread its influence throughout the six borders of Iraq."

"Iran can in fact make good on its threat to shut down the Hormuz Straight at any time," Al-Arab says, which could bottle up vast supplies of Middle East oil.  He adds that America's desire to renew the security agreement clearly shows Iran's rise to power and influence.  If Iran is to complete its nuclear development, he says, its regional influence will increase even more.

The Egyptian analyst says Saudi Arabia must accept Iran's power.  "The Saudis know full well that their threats to purchase arms from Western countries is nothing more than empty threats against Iran," he says, adding that the main powers in the region must bow to Iranian influence and "admit that they cannot count on the United Stated to protect their governments."

When that happens, Al-Arab says, Saudi Arabia will have no choice but to seek agreement with Iran over regional issues, which includes the unrest in Bahrain.  Saudi Arabia knows that if it loses control of Bahrain, Shiite protesters there will shake the Saudi Arabian leadership to its core, possibly forcing a total political shift.

The Iranian leaders are pushing hard to influence the uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain, while trying to tamp down the one in Syria.  Ayatollah Khamenei, in a statement this week, charged that the Bahraini people are being suppressed.  "Promises are made, but those promises are not fulfilled," he said.

Khamenei failed to mention that tens of thousands of Iranians remain behind prison bars because of their desire for freedom, and that the Islamic regime tortures and executes its citizens daily and suppresses the nation as a whole to remain in power.

The radicals ruling Iran believe the weakness in American policies in the region will bolster Iran's own influence there.  Toppling the U.S.-friendly regimes in the region is all part of their goal to destroy Israel and America.

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for an ex-CIA spy who requires anonymity for safety reasons.  He is a senior fellow with EMPact America and the author of A Time to Betray, a book about his double-life as a CIA agent in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, published by Threshold Editions, Simon & Schuster, April 2010.  A Time to Betray was the winner of the 2010 National Best Book Award, and the 2011 International Best Book Award.