Alwaght- Since Taliban's takeover of power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Iran has tried in a variety of ways to establish constructive interactions with new Kabul leaders and build a common view on security, political, economic, and cultural issues.
To this end, in an important development, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led a high-ranking delegation to the Afghan capital on Sunday. Upon his arrival, the top Iranian diplomat was warmly received by foreign ministry officials and then went to the presidential palace. He first met with interim Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi.
At the beginning of the meeting, Muttaqi welcomed the Iranian delegation, saying: "We hope that this meeting will enhance the level of our relations with you... Iran and Afghanistan are two neighboring and Muslim countries and always share each other's joys and sorrows.... We hope that your visit will be fruitful."
Araghchi for his part said:" Iran and Afghanistan are two friendly, brotherly and Muslim countries. Iran and Afghanistan have very deep historical and cultural ties with each other and have always had good relations throughout history."
The economic and trade relations between the two countries, the FM noted, are at a very good level and "I hope that during this visit we will further expand the relations in the national interests of the two countries and the two nations.... God willing, more economic and cultural relations will be established between the two countries and these relations will expand day by day.”
A series of bilateral, regional and international issues were discussed during this visit. Representatives of various ministries and an economic and trade delegation are also accompanying Araghchi.
Before visit to Kabul, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ismail Baghaee commented on the aims of the visit in an X post, saying: "Dr. Araghchi's visit to Kabul is within the framework of the neighborhood policy and in line with the inherent mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pursue the national interests of our country through interaction and dialogue on common interests and concerns. This visit could mark a turning point in leveraging the tremendous bonds between the two nations to ensure mutual benefits for the two countries."
Economy, the central agenda
Since economic and business issues have always been one of the key agendas of the Iranian diplomatic apparatus over the past years, talks about expansion of economic ties are expected to be given a priority.
In 2023, economic relations between Iran and Afghanistan witnessed significant boost, with measures such as the development of Chabahar Port and the acceleration of the launch of Afghanistan-Turkey railway through Iran on the agenda. Iran's plan to connect the Khaf-Herat railway was also carried out with the aim of connecting Afghanistan to regional transit corridors and solving some of its economic problems.
With the development of railway infrastructure, Iran's exports to Afghanistan have grown diverse, departing from their single-product nature.
According to Iranian customs statistics, the volume of trade between the two countries in 2024 increased by nearly 84 percent compared to 2023. However, in the first 6 months of this Persian year (from March to September), Afghanistan has faced the challenge of drop in exports and increase in imports. This could affect the trade balance of the two countries and requires joint planning to improve the situation.
Overall, economic relations between Iran and Afghanistan have been growing this year, but to achieve greater stability and development, there is a need for closer cooperation and strategic planning between the two countries, and Araghchi's visit can help strengthen economic and political relations between the two countries.
Iran's share from Helmand River
Araqchi's visit to Kabul comes at a time when the disputes between Iran and Afghanistan over Iran's water shares from rivers crossing Afghanistan remain unresolved.
Although Iran's water share from the Helmand River is not a new issue, nor was it during the Taliban regime, and there were challenges in this regard during previous Afghan governments, with the Taliban coming to power, Iran's water share has almost been cut off, and this has left the Iranian border provinces facing an environmental crisis.
Although Taliban leaders have cited the lack of rainfall as the main reason for the cutoff of Iranian share and have vowed that they will soon settle the case, they have openly blocked the water supply to Iran by building dams along the Helmand River.
The issue of Iran’s water share from the Helmand River is vital to Tehran and has to do with the fate of nearly 4 million people in Sistan and Baluchestan province, and Iran is seriously seeking to find a root solution to it.
Iran's water share reduction is considered an environmental disaster causing indiscriminate migration of residents of Sistan and Baluchestan to other parts of Iran. Therefore, talks with the Taliban on this issue, which began under government of late President Sayyed Ibrahim Raisi, have been prioritized by President Masoud Pezeshkian's government as well.
Tehran expects the rulers of Kabul to exercise rationality and bring the water dispute to a conclusion in order to help bolster bilateral ties.
Return of Afghan migrants and counter-terror cooperation
Return home of the Afghan migrants from Iran is one of the issues Iran is seeking to organize and conclude. When the Taliban seized the capital, hundreds of Afghans fled to Iran and other neighboring countries fearing persecution, security threats, poverty, and high unemployment rates.
Although Afghanistan does not have the necessary conditions to accept millions of its nationals due to the widespread economic crisis, the presence of these migrants also has negative effects on its neighbors, and therefore these countries are trying to provide the conditions for the return of Afghans to their country as soon as possible.
Regional countries, especially Iran, which will be the most affected by the political and economic crisis in Afghanistan, are trying to mitigate the current instability to some extent with the cooperation of their partners, as the continuation of the current Afghanistan conditions will cause a new wave of migration from this country to its neighbors.
Iran has spent resources more than its capacity on Afghan migrants in the past four decades and has shouldered the underperformance of the international community concerning Afghanistan, but now the conditions in Afghanistan require all countries to work to improve the living conditions of Afghans.
Terrorism is also one of the issues Iran is focusing on countering it in Afghanistan.
Terrorism and its spread to the countries of the region at present can make the situation worse than before, because Afghanistan is more susceptible to the rise of terrorists than ever before, and if groups like ISIS are revived, it can face the region with serious challenges.
ISIS carried out dozens of attacks against Shiite and Sunni civilians in Afghanistan after the Taliban took the power. Since the US is also trying to destabilize the borders of Russia, Iran, and China at present, it specially counts on terrorist groups, especially their foothold gain in Afghanistan. Therefore, Iran and its neighbors through partnership with the Taliban are trying to prevent the US drawing on Afghan crisis to deal blows to rivals.
Helping settle problems of Shiites in Afghanistan
Another important issue is that Iran tries to convince the Taliban to quit its crackdown on other ethnic groups since pressures can lead to ethno-sectarian clashes and bring forth political and economic challenges to the country and even spark a civil war. Though the Taliban say they observe the rights of minorities, they have stepped up clampdown on the Hazaras, a Shiite minority.
There are some extremist groups within the Taliban that have anti-Shiite dispositions. Terrorist groups such as the Haqqani Network have carried out many attacks against Shiites in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past two decades and Hazaras are not immune to the group’s hostile actions.
In April 2023, the Taliban issued a decree banning the teaching of Shiite jurisprudence in universities, a move that many Afghan experts say is indicative of the group’s mono-ethnic and mono-religious policy.
Also, as part of de-Persianizing the government offices and public places, the Taliban in September last year ordered removing the Persian language from the signboards of offices of the Education Directorate in Herat province, replacing them with Pashtun and English languages. Having in mind that Persian is the common language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, Taliban's measures will stir tensions with Iran, too. Since the Hazaras speak Persian, any attempt to eliminate this language from Afghan culture and society is also seen as an anti-Hezara act.
Taliban leaders claim that they seek strengthening relations with Iran at all levels and they have signed trade agreements with Tehran to pave the way for bilateral ties in the future, but their actions actually talk against their promises. However, Iran is trying to push the interim government towards broader cooperation in various fields by improving partnership with the Taliban government and easing Afghanistan's problems.
To ensure contentment of its neighbors, the Taliban should do utmost cooperation with these countries to settle migration, water share, and minority rights issues. Their insistence on their political demands will work like a repellant force, giving the international community, especially neighbors, reasons not to take steps to help settle internal Afghanistan challenges.
