shia don't believe in a caliphate, but khomeini invented a sort of pseudo-caliphate where iran is at the center. they call iran umm al-qura. iran is the new makkah. two relevant quotes: > khomeini defined himself as a muslim, not as an iranian or a shi'ite, and the revolution as islamic, not iranian or shi'ite. in his view, nationalism is an imperialistic plot to weaken and divide the islamic world, and islamic unity is the way to restore islam to its greatness. the regime in iran is the jumping-off point for a "comprehensive islamic revolution," and exporting the revolution is the tool for attaining islamic unity.  > from the point of view of islam, the main element for the unity of the ummah and islamic society is the unifying of faith, and there is no validity at all in the unity of states and in the existence of geographic borders, whether natural or agreed-upon... if a certain islamic state is run by the rule of the jurisprudent, its ruler has supremacy... therefore, his order is binding for every muslim, and even muslims in non-islamic countries must obey him.
Jihadi