I looks like Iran is trying to influence surrounding countries by more than subversive aid.
Iran Moves Into Afghanistan
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It seems I wasn’t entirely off my rocker in seeing Iran advance into Afghanistan over the next 15 years:
The rise of Hezbollah, with Iran’s support, has demonstrated the extent of Tehran’s sway in Lebanon, and the American toppling of Saddam Hussein has allowed it to expand its influence in Iraq. Iran has been making inroads into Afghanistan, as well. During the tumultuous 1980s and ’90s, Iran shipped money and arms to groups fighting first the Soviet occupation and later the Taliban government. But since the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban in 2001, Iran has taken advantage of the central government’s weakness to pursue a more nuanced strategy: part reconstruction, part education and part propaganda.
Iran has distributed its largess, more than $200 million in all, mostly here in the west but also in the capital, Kabul. It has set up border posts against the heroin trade, and next year will begin work on new road and construction projects and a rail line linking the countries. In Kabul, its projects include a new medical center and a water testing laboratory.
Ambassador Bahrami is correct in saying Iran has a legitimate security concern in making sure Afghanistan is stable… to say nothing of their probable nervousness at beefed up U.S. military forces on either side should things get too bad in both countries.
It would appear Iran is finally feeling in a position to flex its muscles as the returning regional power, given its activities in both Iraq and Afghanistan—a side effect of being a nuclear nuisance. Those activities include making things as difficult as possible for the American troops. This is unfortunate, as Iran and the U.S. actually cooperated in the initial campaign against the Taliban in late 2001. After Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech, the Iranians backed off from their general offer of support and focused instead on securing their position within Herat province.
It has other implications as well. Rather than applying to work somewhere like Europe or the U.S., hundreds of thousands of Afghani citizens are applying for work visas in Iran each year. Despite the probable security concerns five years down the line, Iran certainly seems to have an easier time of PR than the U.S. does, which bodes poorly for the future of our efforts there. For the moment, the U.S. and NATO have a narrow margin in good vibes; this is unlikely to last, however, with Musharraf’s reckless border campaigns and continued low levels of “nation building” personnel
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Iran Moves Into Afghanistan
Article Link
It seems I wasn’t entirely off my rocker in seeing Iran advance into Afghanistan over the next 15 years:
The rise of Hezbollah, with Iran’s support, has demonstrated the extent of Tehran’s sway in Lebanon, and the American toppling of Saddam Hussein has allowed it to expand its influence in Iraq. Iran has been making inroads into Afghanistan, as well. During the tumultuous 1980s and ’90s, Iran shipped money and arms to groups fighting first the Soviet occupation and later the Taliban government. But since the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban in 2001, Iran has taken advantage of the central government’s weakness to pursue a more nuanced strategy: part reconstruction, part education and part propaganda.
Iran has distributed its largess, more than $200 million in all, mostly here in the west but also in the capital, Kabul. It has set up border posts against the heroin trade, and next year will begin work on new road and construction projects and a rail line linking the countries. In Kabul, its projects include a new medical center and a water testing laboratory.
Ambassador Bahrami is correct in saying Iran has a legitimate security concern in making sure Afghanistan is stable… to say nothing of their probable nervousness at beefed up U.S. military forces on either side should things get too bad in both countries.
It would appear Iran is finally feeling in a position to flex its muscles as the returning regional power, given its activities in both Iraq and Afghanistan—a side effect of being a nuclear nuisance. Those activities include making things as difficult as possible for the American troops. This is unfortunate, as Iran and the U.S. actually cooperated in the initial campaign against the Taliban in late 2001. After Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech, the Iranians backed off from their general offer of support and focused instead on securing their position within Herat province.
It has other implications as well. Rather than applying to work somewhere like Europe or the U.S., hundreds of thousands of Afghani citizens are applying for work visas in Iran each year. Despite the probable security concerns five years down the line, Iran certainly seems to have an easier time of PR than the U.S. does, which bodes poorly for the future of our efforts there. For the moment, the U.S. and NATO have a narrow margin in good vibes; this is unlikely to last, however, with Musharraf’s reckless border campaigns and continued low levels of “nation building” personnel
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) for Iran to get Hezbollah well established in Afghanistan. They would be great for disrupting and usurping NATO efforts there, and since the western media have been so eager to broadcast that we are going to pull out of there first chance possible (not just Canada, but the demonstrated reluctance to engage an actual enemy by the rest via caveats), they are probably waiting to fill the power vacuum. Plus, I'm betting that the Taliban crew won't be as eager to blow up Hezbollah medical clinics and trigger an inter-terrorist pissing match. If NATO does jet prematurely, Hezbollah could then consolidate the radical elements along the Pakistan border, and start working towards pushing PAK into a civil war (which doesn't seem like an impossible occurrence at this point).
