US Army Lieutenant Colonel Edward Sholtis announced on Monday that elements within Iran are training Taliban fighters on Iranian soil. The news that Tehran is supporting contingents of the Taliban is not new; US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry has said several times before that the Iranians are providing material support to insurgents in the western provinces of Afghanistan.
What is unique about this current announcement is its claim that Taliban forces are receiving training on Iranian soil.
It is still unknown to what extent the Ahmadinejad regime is directly supporting or overseeing such training exercises. It could be the case that these special training forces are operating without the consent of the central government, because the IRGC and its shadow Qods Force are not under Ahmadinejad’s authority. Rather, the IRGC and the Qods Force report directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei himself; thus it can be inferred that either he or members of his staff are aware of the support for the Taliban and have granted approval.
However, these actions do not demonstrate that Iran is directly allying with the Taliban. If the US were to leave Afghanistan, Tehran would play both sides in order to keep the central government in Kabul weak. In international relations, especially in the Middle East, often times you win by not losing; the best way to exercise regional hegemony is for a state to ensure that its immediate neighbors remain weak. By tampering with the internal dynamics of Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran is attempting to secure its place as a major — if not the major — player in Persian Gulf politics.
The US government will also need to keep an eye on the Saudis and their Gulf allies. How will these states react to the rising Shia primacy? Can the United States and its allies preserve the balance of power in the Persian Gulf? Regardless of how Westerners answer these questions, they can be certain that Tehran has already thought long and hard about the power politics of the region.
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6 Comments
Has Iran thought long and hard about US air power lately? Maybe 2 weeks of around-the-clock bombing would remind them nicely?
True that Mike. The US should target certain ISI personnel as well.
I think it would work like this..The US is not targeting Iran, just certain rogue elements that are operating against its own interests.
It has been known that the two major financiers for Al Qaeda and other terrorists attacking western interests were Saddam Hussein and Ahmadinejad. Don’t forget UBL family is in a secured compound in Iran. Secured from what or whom?
Iran is happy because Saddam and Ahmadinejad were vying for control over all of the Middle East. With Saddam gone Iran is now the major money source. And like idiot little puppets the terrorist organizations are being used by Iran. Once Iran has nukes who knows what could happen.
The question is when do you go to the main nest or root of the problem or do you?
This is a test of detainment. But what will be the trigger that will determine that detainment does not work? The smoking gun?
Give me a break, its not all about religion, it’s about the drug trade.
Narcotics smuggling remains a major issue for the two countries. As neighbors, Afghanistan and Iran have had significant ties since before Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. Most recently Afghanistan and Iran have been increasing diplomatic ties between Tehran and the new government in Kabul. Iranian Fars News Agency reported in June 2008 that Afghanistan’s Vice President Mohammed Karim Khalili stated that his government also hoped to increase cultural cooperation. In June 2009, Iranian cabinet ministers approved an Iran-Afghanistan mutual security cooperation bill, which calls on Iran and Afghanistan to cooperate with each other to fulfill common national and international agreements.
Iranian-Afghan relations have not been exclusively beneficial, however. Indeed, Iran and Afghanistan’s contentious six hundred-mile border fuels ongoing tensions over Afghan refugees, border insecurity, and illicit narcotics trafficking. Iranian entities (drug cartels) continue to lend material support to insurgent activity in Afghanistan. Tehran, nonetheless, has been able to maintain close relations with Kabul, firmly ingraining itself and its interests in the country. Kabul, for its part, has gone out of its way to avoid complicating the political relationship by restraining its responses to Iranian policies regarding sensitive border issues.
Despite such security agreements, narcotics smuggling remains a major issue for the two countries. According to 2006 United Nations estimates, sixty percent of Afghanistan’s opium is trafficked through the Iran-Afghan border. As a result, on July 24, 2009, Iranian Police Chief Esma’il Ahmadi-Moqaddam announced that Tehran would allocate more than $150 million to increase border security. Iranian plans for the border include the construction of a cemented barrier separating the two countries, allowing Tehran to completely close the border by March 2010. In August 2009 Afghan Foreign Ministry’s Director of Border Issues Abdol Wahab Aryan indicated that such a wall would be unacceptable to Afghanistan, however.
Although disagreements over handling of border security persist, the two countries have increased operational cooperation. In July 2009, Iran and Afghanistan began conducting joint patrols along their common border. According to the commander of the Afghan border police, General Molhem, the operation aimed to reduce drug trafficking and terrorist activity ahead of the Afghan presidential election on August 20, 2009. American Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke stated in August 2009 that it “doesn’t make much sense”
Give me a break, its not all about religion, it’s about the drug trade.
Narcotics smuggling remains a major issue for the two countries. As neighbors, Afghanistan and Iran have had significant ties since before Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. Most recently Afghanistan and Iran have been increasing diplomatic ties between Tehran and the new government in Kabul. Iranian Fars News Agency reported in June 2008 that Afghanistan’s Vice President Mohammed Karim Khalili stated that his government also hoped to increase cultural cooperation. In June 2009, Iranian cabinet ministers approved an Iran-Afghanistan mutual security cooperation bill, which calls on Iran and Afghanistan to cooperate with each other to fulfill common national and international agreements.
Iranian-Afghan relations have not been exclusively beneficial, however. Indeed, Iran and Afghanistan’s contentious six hundred-mile border fuels ongoing tensions over Afghan refugees, border insecurity, and illicit narcotics trafficking. Iranian entities (drug cartels) continue to lend material support to insurgent activity in Afghanistan. Tehran, nonetheless, has been able to maintain close relations with Kabul, firmly ingraining itself and its interests in the country. Kabul, for its part, has gone out of its way to avoid complicating the political relationship by restraining its responses to Iranian policies regarding sensitive border issues.
Despite such security agreements, narcotics smuggling remains a major issue for the two countries. According to 2006 United Nations estimates, sixty percent of Afghanistan’s opium is trafficked through the Iran-Afghan border. As a result, on July 24, 2009, Iranian Police Chief Esma’il Ahmadi-Moqaddam announced that Tehran would allocate more than $150 million to increase border security. Iranian plans for the border include the construction of a cemented barrier separating the two countries, allowing Tehran to completely close the border by March 2010. In August 2009 Afghan Foreign Ministry’s Director of Border Issues Abdol Wahab Aryan indicated that such a wall would be unacceptable to Afghanistan, however.
Although disagreements over handling of border security persist, the two countries have increased operational cooperation. In July 2009, Iran and Afghanistan began conducting joint patrols along their common border. According to the commander of the Afghan border police, General Molhem, the operation aimed to reduce drug trafficking and terrorist activity ahead of the Afghan presidential election on August 20, 2009. American Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke stated in August 2009 that it “doesn’t make much sense”