NEW YORK - The chief topic in discussions held by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Arab leaders during her trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was the Islamic Republic of Iran. This topic has an important extension to the Palestinians and Hamas' taking up the formation of a government after its recent election victory. However, the more important extension leads to Syria and Hizbullah in Lebanon. Rice's trip was the first by a high-ranking American official to discuss Iran as part of the regional framework, and not just the country's nuclear program