Has Iran Left Its Afghan Allies to Their Own Devices?

There was a time when the Islamic Republic prided itself on its proxies, which helped the regime offset limitations in its traditional military capabilities and ensured plausible deniability when interfering in internal affairs of other states. Shia Afghans were among those allies, who were deployed, fought, and suffered significant casualties in the civil war in Syria. More recently, Iran appears to have left its Afghan allies to their own devices hoping to achieve better relations with the Taliban regime.  

• June 8: The clearest example of Afghans complaining of being abandoned by Iran was expressed by Hamed Karimi, former Afghan Interior Ministry advisor, in a piece released by Diplomasi-ye Irani (Iranian Diplomacy), which is close to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. “The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is the claimant of leadership of the Shia world, has managed to use its position to exert influence in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Iraq,” Karimi wrote. He continued, Iran “is now facing a serious challenge: Afghan Shia, who compose the ‘Fatemiyoun Division’ and played a considerable role in securing Iran’s military objectives, particularly in Syria, have become targets in Afghanistan and are being systematically killed.” Karimi admitted Iran’s direct intervention in “the Afghan quagmire” will further complicate matters for Tehran but warned “Iran’s silence harms its leadership position in the Shia world.” 
• July 31: Tasnim News, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported clashes between Iran’s border patrol and Taliban forces on the Hirmand border. Quoting Taliban sources, Tasnim reported one Taliban fighter was killed in the clashes and that the Taliban “tried to raise the Taliban banner in an area that was not Afghanistan’s soil,” which led to intensified fire exchanges between the two parties. 

The most recent clash between Iran and the Taliban was perhaps caused by local circumstances, and the two parties may well learn the art of peaceful coexistence in the future, but for the time being, the Islamic Republic appears to have forsaken its old allies, without gaining new friends. 

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