Shi’ism served as Iran’s marker of difference from all bordering Sunni states

Evidence

Shi‘ism brought a second important feature, and that is differentiation from all the neighbors: from the Ottomans in the west, from the central Asian states in the north-east, from the Indian-Muslim states in the south-east. Practically all of these were Sunni states. True, Persian was used as a classical language, a literary language and even at times a diplomatic language by all three neighbors, the Ottomans, the Central Asians, and the Indians. But the crucial difference between the Sunni and Shi‘ite realms remained. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 307

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Shi’ite identity served to differentiate Iran from its Sunni neighbors.