Mr. Maliki and other top Shiite leaders also want to maintain strong ties to Iran , whose influence is rising across the Middle East , officials say .
Middle East /location/location/contains Iran
NNP NNP CC JJ JJ JJ NNS RB VBP TO VB JJ NNS TO NNP , WP$ NN VBZ VBG IN DT NNP NNP , NNS VBP .
Middle East
LOCATION
Iran
LOCATION
/location/location/contains