Iran Playing in Afghan Sandbox While U.S. Media Attention is Focused on Iran in Iraq

^{Iran Doesn't Want U.S. and Afghanistan Shaking Hands}

The relationship between Iran and Iraq has been hot news this week, following the revelation in the Washington Post that the Bush Administration has sanctioned the U.S. military to "kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq" in order to increase political pressure on Iran. The goal of the authorization, we should be clear, is not strictly a battlefield tactic, but an effort to produce political leverage with respect to Iran.

In the meantime, what about Iran's involvement in Afghanistan? According to analyst Muhammad Tahir, it is significant. Iran cooperates with Afghan militants who share a desire to prevent Afghanistan from turning into a stable U.S ally. Iran is leveraging its position as a vital trade route for Afghanistan to pressure the Karzai administration, and gaining financial leverage with huge donations to Afghan reconstruction.

Tahir concludes that:

Experts on the region believe that the insurgency in Afghanistan has many directions, one of which is leaning toward Tehran. Insurgent fighters in Afghanistan traditionally opposed to working with Iran may have also changed their policy in light of the mutual short-term interest of removing U.S. and Western influence from the country. Due to the strategic location of Iran and its importance to the Afghan economy, however, the Kabul administration has avoided speaking publicly about Iranian influence in Afghanistan, as they believe, as a result of political tension with Pakistan, Iran is Kabul's last significant open door to the world.

^{Photo of Bush visit to Afghanistan, March 2006, courtesy of the White House}