Afghanistan and Iran:Distances from Pakistan but Proximity to India,where does Tehran stand on Afghanistan?

Afghanistan and Iran:Distances from Pakistan but Proximity to India,where does Tehran stand on Afghanistan?

    

Afghanistan and Iran:Distances from Pakistan but Proximity to India,where does Tehran stand on Afghanistan?

A few weeks ago, when the Taliban launched a decisive operation on Panjshir, the last stronghold of resistance in the country, an unexpected statement came from a neighboring country of Afghanistan.

 

Since the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, anti-Pakistan sentiments in Afghan circles have begun to surface, and so has Panjshir.

An Indian media report based on unconfirmed claims by resistance leaders accused Pakistani drones of attacking insurgents in Panjshir.

The news was aired on several media channels around the world, but the Pakistani military denied it, saying it was not possible because "Pakistani forces do not have long-range drone technology.

Based on the same news, the Iranian newspaper Tehran Times also claimed that Pakistani military weapons were being used in support of the Taliban in Panjshir 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzada then commented on the alleged airstrikes on the anti-Taliban resistance coalition in Afghanistan's Panjshir Province, saying he strongly condemned the attacks and "foreign interference". 

Without naming Pakistan, Saeed Khatibzada said, "Afghanistan's history shows that any direct or indirect intervention ends in the defeat of these aggressors and the Afghan people want their freedom and what is being done here." Any intervention will definitely fail. 

A few days later, it was announced that the Iranian Foreign Minister would visit India next month.

It should be noted that India is one of the countries that have been severely affected by the Taliban occupation of Afghanistan and they seem to openly oppose the Taliban. 

On the other hand, the visit of Pakistan's ISI chief to Kabul has also strengthened the perception that the Pakistani military continues to have influence over the Taliban.

But what has finally happened is that Tehran's inclination towards New Delhi is growing and both are speaking the same language on the issue of Afghanistan.

It may be recalled that on September 5, when the Iranian Foreign Minister accused Pakistan of meddling in Afghanistan without naming Pakistan, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called on the three most important countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He made telephone calls to the Taliban leadership and discussed the Taliban government in Afghanistan and the situation in the region. 

Surprisingly, Afghanistan's neighbor Iran was not on the list.

At a critical time when Pakistan is in talks with other fellow Muslim countries on joint government and economic assistance in Afghanistan, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also visited Iran in late August and again in the first week of September. He spoke to his Iranian counterpart on the phone.

Despite this, Iran is making anti-Pakistan statements at such a time, citing unofficial reports in the Indian media.

What is the reason for the distance between Iran and Pakistan on the issue of Afghanistan?

To understand this situation, it is necessary to look at the events of the past few weeks.

When the Afghan president left the country on August 15 and Kabul was captured by the Taliban without firing a shot, the Iranian government took a seemingly neutral stance, but when cabinet members gradually joined the new Afghan government. When talks began on the names of Iran, Iran repeatedly insisted that women and members of the Hazara Shia community be included in government formation.

However, when the Taliban announced their acting cabinet on September 7, the 33-member cabinet did not include members of the Hazara community or women, and even more so when Iran suffered the biggest blow when it Taliban leaders, such as Qayyum Zakir, Dawood Muzammil, President Ibrahim, etc., who were thought to be close to Iran, also found no place in the cabinet.

And that is why some experts believe that Iran feels that Pakistan is using its ties to the Taliban to keep pro-Iranian Taliban leaders away from the source of power in order to minimize Iran's role in the new Afghan government. ۔

On the other hand, Iranian government circles are emphasizing the importance of maintaining ties with the Afghan Taliban despite opposition during the Taliban's first term and the absence of the Hazara Shia community in the cabinet this time.

Panjshir issue isn't however large as it seems to be being made.

Asked about the Iranian Foreign Ministry's statement, Asif Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Iran, told the BBC that the Panjshir issue was not as serious as it was being made out to be.

On the one hand, the Taliban took over the whole country, but Iran remained silent, and Panjshir is making noise? This reaction is being shown only for certain constituencies in the country. 

Asked about Imran Khan's failure to establish ties with Iran, Durrani said that Pakistan had discussed various platforms with Iran several times in recent days.

He said that if Iran had a complaint against Pakistan, it would not have attended the virtual meeting of foreign ministers of different countries in the region, nor would it have attended the meeting of intelligence chiefs of different countries.

"Assuming that was the situation, for what reason did the Iranian president meet Imran Khan in Dushanbe and not converse with him about the Panjshir issue?"

According to former ambassador Asif Durrani, in the past, Iran was certainly against the Taliban, but had established ties since 2005 and now things have changed.

"Now is not the time. After leaving the United States, Afghanistan's neighbors are on the same page. 

So how will the strategy of Pakistan and Iran be different in the presence of Taliban in Afghanistan?

Talking about this, Kamran Bukhari said that the main difference between Iran and Pakistan is in terms of their "integrated strategy" ie tactics and "strategic implementation measures" ie tactics.

"Iran is a very realistic country. He examines things from a long-term strategic point of view and makes decisions in this regard. On the other hand, Pakistan's thinking is that if it has just become a strategy, it is like a line on a rock and it has to stick to whatever happens.