IRAN EXPANDING TIES WITH CENTRAL ASIAN STATES TO COUNTERBALANCE US GEOPOLITICAL PRESSURE
Joshua Kucera
EurasiaNet, NY
April 13 2006
In an effort to counter US attempts to geopolitically isolate Iran,
officials in Tehran are trying to implement an ambitious program
centering on trade and infrastructure investment in Central Asia and
the Caucasus, two Iranian experts say.
Tehran is focusing most of its attention on areas with which Iran has
strong cultural and historical ties, such as Tajikistan and western
Afghanistan. But the strategy also involves other countries in the
former Soviet Union, including Uzbekistan and Armenia. Tehran’s aim is
to create a diffuse patchwork of regional ties and institutions that
can serve as a counterweight to US geopolitical pressure, according
to two Iranian academics, Mohsen Milani of the University of South
Florida, and Abbas Maleki of the International Institute for Caspian
Studies in Tehran. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
The two outlined the Iranian countermoves at an April 5 talk in
Washington, sponsored by the Central Asia Caucasus Institute at Johns
Hopkins University.
Iran’s preferred mode of investment is via massive infrastructure
projects. For instance, Iran is building the Anzab tunnel that will
connect the northern and southern parts of Tajikistan, and will
eventually provide a road corridor from China through Central Asia
to the Persian Gulf. It is also constructing the Sangtudinskaya-II
hydroelectric plant in Tajikistan as part of a total $700 million
investment in electricity in that country. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive].
Iran is also among the leading donors to the reconstruction of
Afghanistan. It pledged $560 million at the Tokyo donors’ conference in
2002 – all of which is expected to be disbursed by the end of 2006 –
and promised another $100 million at the London conference held last
January. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
In 2005, Iran completed the $43 million, 125-km road from the
Dougharoun region of Iran to Herat, and has announced that it will
build a 176-km railroad from Iran to Herat. It is also improving its
own railroad infrastructure with the aim of attracting cargo from
Russia, China and Central Asia via Iran to ports in the Persian Gulf.
In 2004, Iran completed the 1000-km Bafq-Mashhad railroad, which cut
two days off the rail journey from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf.
Tehran has steadily increased trade in recent years with its regional
neighbors, in particular Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In addition,
Iran is working with Armenia to build a natural gas pipeline. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Speaking at length about the Iranian-Afghan relationship, Milani
noted that the growing volume of Iranian-Afghan trade – rising from
$120 million in 2002 to $250 million last year – is enabling Tehran
and Kabul to sweep political differences under the rug. Milani is
publishing a paper in the upcoming issue of the Middle East Journal
on Iran-Afghanistan relations.
Iran still hosts more than a million Afghan refugees and is the
destination of a significant amount of Afghanistan’s opium output.
Tehran also is concerned about the Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration program in Afghanistan, believing that it is sapping
the power of Iran-friendly Dari-speaking militias. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai has engaged in what Milani characterized a “Pashtunization”
of the Afghan government, marginalizing Dari speakers, as well as
representatives of other ethnic groups in Afghanistan. [For background
see related Eurasia Insight article].
Iran is now a major source of consumer goods in Afghanistan, and
Iran-friendly power centers in Kabul are emerging, in particular the
parliament, which is led by Speaker Yunus Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik.
Maleki pointed out that Tehran also is keeping quiet about many
sources of controversy in Central Asia, in particular the 2005 Andijan
massacre in Uzbekistan, and the continuing US military presence in
Kyrgyzstan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. At the
same time, Iran is active in the Economic Cooperation Organization,
a trade and investment group that includes all the Central Asian
countries plus Iran, Turkey and Pakistan.
Tehran is also an observer to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,
a regional security group that aims to provide a counterweight to
US power in Central Asia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].
Editor’s Note: Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance
writer who specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the Caucasus
and the Middle East.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
