Border incidents and terror against the Shiite minority in Afghanistan are straining relations between the Taliban government in Kabul and Tehran.
Border region between Iran and Afghanistan near Saranj
The Iranian army has deployed more tanks and helicopters on the border with Afghanistan, videos posted online show. This time at the most frequently used border crossing, Islam Qala-Dougharoun, which connects the Afghan city of Herat with Iran's second-largest city of Mashhad in the north-west. The border crossing was temporarily closed a week ago. Taliban fighters had previously arrested five Iranian border guards for illegally crossing the border. According to the commander of Iran's border security force in the region, they wanted to warn the Taliban that building a road along the Afghan side of the border with Iran has not been agreed. “We hope that the restraint of our border guards will not be misunderstood,” said a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry a day later.
That April 24 incident was not the first clash on the Afghan border. The situation has been tense since the Taliban took power. Iran and Afghanistan share a 950-kilometer border that is difficult for Iran to secure. The border line was defined in the 1920s after Afghanistan was recognized as a sovereign and independent country and is marked approximately every five kilometers. However, it partly runs over high mountains and is not suitable for the deployment of border guards and their equipment.
Dangerous misunderstanding
In December 2021, the Taliban fired on Iranian farmers from the Afghan province of Nimros. Iran has set up a 30-kilometer security wall there to stop the smuggling of gasoline into Afghanistan and drugs in the opposite direction. Between the wall and the border there is a strip about 600 meters wide that Iranian farmers use as farmland, which is why they are allowed to cross the border wall. The Taliban had assumed their side had been injured and opened fire, Iranian soldiers returned it. Hours of fighting ensued, which only stopped after the arrival of Iranian special forces.
“Such disputes are very dangerous,” Omar Samad told DW. The former Afghan ambassador to Canada and France was until 2020 an advisor to Abdullah Abdullah, the former “chief executive” in the government of President Ashraf Ghani, who was ousted by the Taliban. “Neither the Islamic Republic of Iran nor the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan want a war. They have clearly shown in the last eight months after the Taliban took power that they want to avoid an escalation of the conflict. They have common security interests, for example both sides are concerned about the activities of the terrorist organization 'Islamic State' in the region. They have to work together on issues like drug smuggling or dealing with illegal immigration.” The ex-diplomat emphasizes that national and international recognition of the Taliban government is necessary for this cooperation.
< p>Since the Taliban took power, up to 6,000 people are fleeing to Iran every day
Iran and Afghanistan's Shiites
Iran is still pushing for an “inclusive” government in Kabul with ethnic minority participation. Iran's President Ibrahim Raisi repeated this demand last week at a meeting with the representatives of the Islamic countries at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in Tehran. Raisi said: “We see dangerous foreign-led efforts in Afghanistan to foment ethnic strife and reignite civil war in this Muslim country.” The spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei claims that the terrorist organization “Islamic State” is a US invention.
After the recent bomb attack by the Afghan IS subsidiary (IS-K), Raisi called on the Taliban government to better protect the Shiite residents of Afghanistan. At least 20 people were killed in an explosion at a mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif. The deteriorated security situation of the Shiites in Afghanistan and Iran limits influence on the Taliban is criticized in the Iranian media. In a lengthy article dated April 25, the state agency IRNA accused the Taliban leadership of not condemning, let alone preventing, terrorist attacks against the Shiites.
Terrorist attacks against Shia have increased
Conflicts between the Taliban and Iran could intensify, wrote Iran expert Ali Afshari in a post for DW in October 2021. “The Taliban don't want to be overshadowed by Shiite Iran and are looking for proximity to Pakistan, Qatar and Turkey. They will offer Iran cooperation for border security and in return demand better economic cooperation.” The Taliban politician Molavi Shabir Ahmad made statements along these lines at the end of April. “Our policy towards neighboring countries, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is to avoid any war and conflict and move towards comprehensive cross-border cooperation.” Shabir heads a working group set up by the Taliban government's defense ministry to resolve border disputes with Iran. Although Iran has not yet recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Tehran is cooperating with Kabul in this area.