Recently, Iranian authorities have expressed different positions regarding the situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, reflecting their apprehension about the developments in Afghanistan, which is situated to the west of Iran. Iran recognizes that it cannot remain unaffected by the consequences of the ongoing events in Afghanistan due to several factors, such as geographical proximity, extensive trade relations, shared cultural and linguistic ties, and the significant influx of Afghan immigrants into Iran. It seems that Iran’s involvement in Afghanistan is driven by the objective of safeguarding its interests without having to engage in conflicts within its own borders.
The Iranian authorities’ stance towards the Taliban is not consistent. On occasion, the Islamic Republic of Iran refers to the Taliban as “the original movement of the region” and offers them hospitality, financial aid, and military support. However, at other times, they engage in media debates to express their expectations from the Taliban in relation to Iran’s interests. They sometimes emphasize the importance of engaging with the Taliban, while at other times they issue warnings about the rise of terrorism and drug trafficking in Afghanistan under Taliban control. These conflicting positions are seen by some as a reflection of the intricate strategies employed by Iran in Afghanistan.
During the initial phase of the Taliban’s rule, Iran’s relationship with the group was severely strained. In 1998, the Taliban’s act of killing eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist within Iran’s consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif City further exacerbated tensions. In response, Iranian officials conducted a military exercise near the Afghan border. Additionally, the issue of Iran’s water rights to the Helmand River was a contentious matter during this period. However, as the Taliban eventually lost power, Iran gradually transitioned from hostility to friendship with the group. This shift in position can be attributed to two significant factors: the United States’ antagonistic stance towards Iran and the presence of extremism within the Taliban.
Numerous experts from Iran and Afghanistan hold the belief that the Taliban can be considered as the Sunni equivalent of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. One shared characteristic between these two regimes is the presence of an inquisition police, a feature that is uncommon in most countries. Additionally, both regimes enforce a division of society based on gender and actively discourage female rule and leadership. However, it seems that the shared animosity towards the United States holds greater significance for these two regimes than their similarities and commonalities.
Common Enemy
The World Trade Towers in the United States and the Ministry of Defense of this country were targeted in an attack carried out by hijacked aircraft controlled by Al-Qaeda. Additionally, an airplane was hijacked with the intention of attacking the White House, but it crashed forty minutes after the hijacked American Airlines plane struck the Pentagon. During this time, Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, along with numerous Arab fighters and their families, resided in Afghanistan under the authority of the Taliban. They had pledged their loyalty to the late leader of this group, Mullah Muhammad Omar. It was believed that these attacks were planned and executed in Afghanistan. These audacious acts of terrorism provoked strong condemnation from the international community. The United States, having previously been targeted by Al-Qaeda in Africa, demanded that the Taliban surrender Osama bin Laden, but the group refused. This refusal prompted the United States and its allies to launch an attack on Afghanistan, which was under Taliban control, resulting in the overthrow of this group from power.
For the past 43 years, Iran has considered itself an enemy of the United States. The Islamic Republic of Iran currently lacks diplomatic relations with the United States and has strained relationships with many of the US’s strategic allies in the Middle East. Iran openly displays hostility towards Israel and does not have consistent relations with countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, it recently resumed diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia after a seven-year hiatus, with the assistance of China’s mediation. Iran’s animosity towards the United States has resulted in its opposition to the country. Iran finds itself largely isolated in the international arena, lacking many allies worldwide. Notably, some countries that are allies and friends of Iran are also opponents of America. The primary reason for this alliance and friendship is their shared enmity towards America. Additionally, some of Iran’s friends in the Middle East are proxy groups of the country, as well as various terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. This is evident through Iran’s sheltering of leaders and members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Recent reports have indicated that Saif al-Adel, the newly appointed leader of al-Qaeda, traveled from Iran to Afghanistan. The primary driving force behind the Islamic Republic of Iran’s alliance with terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban is their shared adversary. Consequently, when the Taliban were engaged in conflict with Afghanistan, receiving support from the international community, Iran offered shelter, training facilities, financial assistance, and weaponry to aid this group in their attacks against the American-backed government in Kabul and the US forces.
In recent years, America’s confrontation with the Taliban is no longer hostile. It is no secret that without the permission of the United States, the political office of the Taliban would not have been opened in Qatar, and in the absence of the groundwork of the United States, this group would not have dominated Afghanistan. Even now, almost two years have passed since the rule of this group, and forty million dollars are injected into the Taliban regime every week so that this group can maintain its rule over Afghanistan. A large part of this money is provided by American taxpayers and transferred to Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban by the government of that country.
The Taliban’s shift from hostility towards the United States to a friendly relationship has created confusion for Iran. Initially, Iran attempted to portray the Taliban in a positive light when they first regained power. Despite widespread protests by Afghan citizens and politicians, Iran went as far as handing over their embassy in Tehran to the Taliban as a gesture of goodwill. This was done in an effort to prevent the Taliban from aligning themselves with the United States. However, the influence of financial incentives from the U.S. proved to be much stronger than what could be countered by simply handing over the embassy to the Taliban.
Iran is unable to provide financial assistance to the Taliban and cannot be relied upon as a substitute. The Taliban is aware that without regular payments of large sums of money, their regime’s survival is at risk. The recent increase in the value of their currency is due to the injection of dollars by the United States. There are even speculations that the funding for the Taliban’s military, police, and intelligence comes from sources outside of the country, in which Iran is not involved. The United Nations is responsible for funding the Ministries of Education and Public Health for the Taliban. If these funds are not received, the Taliban will struggle to finance their budget. Therefore, given Iran’s economic crisis, it is not a viable alternative to the generous support provided by the United States.
Currently, the Iranians, who are not a suitable substitute for the Americans as friends of the Taliban, find themselves in a state of confusion when it comes to adopting positions. They lack a preferable alternative to the costly packages of U.S. dollars in order to counteract Washington’s influence in Kandahar or even to incentivize the Taliban to maintain stability. As a result, their stance towards the Taliban occasionally contradicts itself. It seems that these conflicting positions are not a result of Iran’s intricate strategies, but rather a reflection of the country’s own confusion.
Last year, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, the former ambassador of Iran in Kabul, wrote an article discussing the future of Afghanistan. In this article, he pointed out that one of the reasons for the collapse of the republican system in Afghanistan was the lack of localized security. He also mentioned that the de-Americanization of the security element in the region, due to the uncoordinated actions of various influential countries, contributed to this issue. Despite 15 months passing since the Taliban took control, Bahrami still believed that the de-Americanization of security remained an uncoordinated problem between the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and the Taliban Emirate. Recently, he published another article on the same website. In the second paragraph of his article, the author referred to the Taliban’s rise as “the restoration of sovereignty to the people” of Afghanistan. However, a few paragraphs later, he stated that the withdrawal of the United States and the return of the Taliban have shifted the burden of combating non-Afghan terrorist groups onto the region. He explained that this policy change, considering the commitments made by the Taliban to these extremist groups and the nature of their relationship, has transformed the Afghan crisis and redirected threats towards the region. Consequently, the region will bear the direct cost of containing and confronting these groups.
In conclusion, he asserts that the strategy of stabilizing extremism in any region implies the deliberate management and perpetuation of the crisis for all parties involved. However, Afghan citizens and experts have consistently criticized the practice of legitimizing the Taliban in order to bolster extremism in the country, particularly by neighboring nations like Iran. They have also cautioned against engaging and cooperating with extremist groups due to the potential consequences. In one section of his article, Bahrami views the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan as a restoration of sovereignty to the people. In another section, he attributes the rise of this group and the subsequent regionalization of the crisis to America’s withdrawal policy from Afghanistan.
Given that the exercise of sovereignty is being returned to the people, it is evident that there is no room for compromise with extremist and terrorist ideologies. This is particularly true when dealing with extremist groups that claim to represent God and deny the political participation of the people. Iranian politicians, such as Bahrami, appear to be perplexed when confronting the Taliban, partly due to the unpredictable nature of this group. The Taliban has demonstrated the ability to abruptly shift from hostility towards a country or group to friendship, and vice versa.
However, the director general of Iran’s anti-narcotics headquarters has refuted the Taliban’s claim regarding the decrease in drug production in Afghanistan, stating that the production of methamphetamine has actually increased in the country. It is undeniable that Afghanistan is the largest drug producer, but it is important to note that not all Afghans are involved in drug production. If we consider all drug producers, including peasants and factory owners, they likely make up less than 10% of Afghanistan’s population. The majority of Afghan people are opposed to drug production and have been actively fighting against it for years. Therefore, it is incorrect to assume that all Afghan citizens are involved in drug production or support it. With the resurgence of the Taliban, the power to exercise sovereignty has returned to the people. In the eyes of Afghan citizens, the Taliban is seen as a mercenary group, with some even referring to them as America’s Wagner group in Afghanistan.
The control exerted by a mercenary group, with the backing of regional and international nations, over a country with a population of tens of millions does not constitute a restoration of power to the people to exercise their sovereignty. Iran is fully aware that without the support of Tehran, Islamabad, Moscow, Beijing, Doha, and ultimately Washington, the Taliban would not be able to govern Kabul and other major cities in Afghanistan, even for a brief period. Even without the assistance of countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, the Taliban would not have been able to establish dominance over a single district. They were a group of fugitive terrorists who found refuge and support from neighboring nations. In such circumstances, true sovereignty does not return to the people. If the power truly belonged to the Afghan people, then educational institutions such as universities and schools would be accessible to both men and women throughout the country, democracy and values such as freedom of expression and opinion would be respected and upheld, and society would be liberated from the grip of terrorism and drug trade.
Three days ago, Seyed Rasoul Mousavi, an advisor to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, expressed his observation regarding the strong desire of Afghan girls for education. He noted that despite challenging conditions such as intense heat in tents and hidden basements, these girls continue to pursue education. Mousavi emphasized that if Afghans regain control over their country, their priority would be to reopen educational institutions rather than shutting them down. He criticized the Taliban, who are responsible for closing schools and universities, and allowing the dissemination of music in exchange for money. Mousavi stated that such actions do not represent the Afghan people.
