Iraq’s Shia majority has been ruled by Sunnis since the Middle Ages.

Evidence

A striking case is that of Iraq, where a Shi ite majority has remained subject to a Sunni ascendancy—to borrow a word from Anglo-Irish history—that can be traced back from the republic regime to the monarchy, the British Mandate, the Ottoman Empire, and beyond into the Middle Ages. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1434 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

It could also be seen as a national conflict. One of the contestants—Iraq—is Arab. The other—Iran—is Persian. Though both Muslim, these are different peoples, speaking different languages, with different cultures. There is a Persian minority in Iraq; there is a much larger Arab minority in southwestern Iran, and the war could be, and sometimes was, perceived or presented as a national, or even ethnic conflict between Arabs and Persians. It also had a religious dimension in that Iran is Shi‘a and is indeed ruled by a militant Shiite hierocracy while Iraq, though inhabited by a Shi‘a majority both in the country and in the capital, is ruled by a Sunni ascendancy. This was an important theme in the propaganda of the Iranians against Iraq during the war, and one naturally avoided by the Iraqis. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1602 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In most Muslim lands, the Shi a were a minority. Even where they became a majority, with the exception of Iran, they remained in a subordinate position. A striking case is that of Iraq, where a Shi ite majority has remained subject to a Sunni ascendancy—to borrow a word from Anglo-Irish history—that can be traced back from the republic regime to the monarchy, the British Mandate, the Ottoman Empire, and beyond into the Middle Ages. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1434 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy rules a Shia majority it systematically privileges against — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 249; Iraq’s Shia majority remained subordinate to Sunni rulers for centuries — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 1434; Iraq’s Shia majority endured Sunni ascendancy across a millennium of regimes — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 1434 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Iraq’s Shia majority remained subordinate to Sunni rulers for centuries #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1434
• Iraq’s Shia majority endured Sunni ascendancy across a millennium of regimes #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1434
• Iraq was ruled by a Sunni minority despite a Shiite majority #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1602