BENAZEER BHUTTO - THE IRANIAN CONNECTION

Early picture of "Begum" (title of respect) Nosrat Bhutto, Benazeer's mother whose Hariri family, came from the city of Isfahan, Iran area.

Nosrat's mother (Benazeer's grandmother) came from the Iranian warrior Kurdish tribes of Kermanshah, who married into the wealthy Hariri family.

Reminder: the Kurds are predominately Sunni Moslems, not Shias.

She then married Ali Bhutto, future President of Pakistan, for whom the late Shah of Iran always had a soft spot, surprising the many who did not know of Nosrat's Iranian origins.

Later, regal photo of Begum Nosrat Bhutto (center) with Benazeer (seen left) and her aunt. Benazeer sits in the more senior position at her mother's right hand.

Regal, perhaps, as she came from the tribe which produced the Moslem general and hero, Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi, who resisted, then drove back the European Christian Crusaders.

Does this Iranian connection play any part in the assassination? I doubt it.

But you decide for yourselves the ramifications, if any, between politics in Pakistan and a possible future spill over into Iran. Even artificially concocted in a couple of generations.