WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- At a time when the United States is widely regarded in the Middle East as a military aggressor and faces plummeting popularity around the world, Iran is taking advantage of the situation to boost its own image and forge closer ties with its neighbors.

The U.S. government has long been accused of botching public diplomacy in the Muslim world, where the United States is largely seen as an aggressive superpower more interested in dropping bombs than promoting democracy.

Iran, on the other hand, has been bolstering its image not only by capitalizing on longstanding religious and economic ties, but also by contributing millions of dollars for the reconstruction of Lebanon and Afghanistan, as well as informal aid to Iraq.

A survey associated with the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that most of the world thinks the U.S.-led war in Iraq is a greater danger to world peace than Iran is and that the war has made the world a more dangerous place.

In predominantly Muslim countries, where the United States should presumably be focusing most of its soft-power energies, the project found that not only is the United States held in a negative view, but that Iran was regarded very favorably.