&gt; Dalai Lama is not the head of Buddhism but the head of Tibet<p>Which seeks to be combined theological and political state in the vein of Russian czars, Japanese emperors, North Korea, and countless other ruling parties.  You can even argue Great Britain still abides by this.<p>&gt; we would not confound Iranian political independence with Shia Islam<p>Why would we not?  They are 2 sides of the same coin.  Religion is quite often the basis of political power such as in Iran.