By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ites fear that growing tension between neighbouring Iran and the United States could leave them caught between defending a fellow Shi'ite nation and an ally that toppled their worst enemy -- Saddam Hussein.

While Shi'ite Iraqi officials have sought to distance themselves from the war of words between Tehran and Washington, they have privately expressed concern the increased friction could force some Iraqi Shi'ites to choose sides.

Raising the stakes, senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad presented on Sunday what they called growing evidence of Iranian weapons being used to kill their soldiers and implicated the "highest levels" of Iran's government in the training of Iraqi militants.

"We do not want to be involved. We want good relations with Iran and good relations with Washington," a senior Iraqi Shi'ite official told Reuters.

"This is the general view among the Shi'ites but can we control everybody? Of course not."

President George W. Bush has said he has no intention of invading Iran. But some war critics say the Bush administration's language on Iran echoes comments made leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Washington, which has branded non-Arab Iran as part of an 'axis of evil', has long been worried by the influence the Islamic Republic has on anti-U.S. groups in the region.

Among those is the movement of anti-American Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who led his Mehdi Army militia in two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004.

Washington calls the Mehdi Army the biggest threat to Iraq's security and has urged Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to disarm it. Sadr is a key political ally of Maliki.

Many Iraqi Shi'ite leaders, oppressed under Saddam, took refuge in Iran during the 1980-1988 war with Saddam's Iraq.

They came to power after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam, giving Arab Shi'ites a rare taste of power in the Sunni dominant Arab world. All Iraqi Shi'ites are Arabs while the Shi'ite of Iran are Persian.

"The Shi'ites in Iraq are on good terms with Iran but they are not willing to lose what they have achieved so far for another country, even if it is Iran," said an official in Maliki's governing Shi'ite Alliance coalition.

COMPETING FOR SHI'ITE POWER

The alliance, formed largely as a Shi'ite bloc to compete in 2005 elections, is composed of 18 parties but dominated by Sadr's movement and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

Both groups are rivals and have armed wings.

Sadr and Hakim also have very different views of the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Sadr fiercely opposes American soldiers and has demanded their withdrawal. Hakim, who is on good terms with the United States, says the troops are needed to help stabilise Iraq until the country's own security forces are ready.

Sadr said a year ago during a visit to Tehran that his Mehdi Army would aid Iran if it came under attack.

Such U.S. intervention in Iran would be a disaster for Iraq, some Shi'ite officials said.

"Any attack on it would be seen as an attack on Shi'ites in general," said another Shi'ite official, who like all those interviewed, requested anonymity.

"Some might want to get involved under the banner of defending Shi'ites. I do not want to be seen as defending the Americans, but each country has its own interests. It is not in ours to turn our country into a battlefield for others."

Some Shi'ites officials said rogue elements in Sadr's Mehdi Army were being funded by Iran -- a charge also made by the U.S. military officials on Sunday.

Iraqi officials urged both Washington and Tehran not to turn Iraq into their battlefield.

"Both countries should settle their scores somewhere else," said another Shi'ite Alliance official.

"Iraq is suffering enough already."

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