Iran courts Pakistan to counter US

Asia Times ^ | 11 january 2002 | Syed Saleem Shahzad

[knighthawk]

KARACHI - A major breakthrough in Pakistan-Iran relations is expected within the next few weeks with either Iranian President Sayed Mohammad Khatami visiting Islamabad or his Pakistani counterpart President General Pervez Musharraf going to Tehran.

The two countries, deeply concerned over the growing military build-up of the United States and its allies in South and Central Asia, are seeking stronger relations to counterbalance this influence.

Iran was a part of the anti-Taliban and anti-Pakistan movement, with India and Russia, that led to the Northern Alliance taking Kandahar and Kabul in Afghanistan, but subsequent events have caused the leaders in Tehran to reassess the situation and wave the peace flag at Islamabad.

Historically, Pakistan has had close geopolitical and cultural-religious linkages with Iran. However, strains in the relationship appeared in the past decade, and many Pakistanis suspect Iranian support for the sectarian violence that has plagued their country.

After September 11, although Iran was anti-Taliban, it was cool towards the US military intervention in Afghanistan, concerns that were exacerbated with the rout of the Taliban and the subsequent installation of an interim administration in Kabul not to Iran's liking. In particular, acceptance by the new leader, Hamid Karzai, of foreign peace-keepers in Afghanistan irked Tehran.

Sources say that during the recent visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi to Pakistan, he emphasized that Pakistan and Iran should adopt a joint strategy on Afghanistan. He stressed that Iran would try to safeguard Pakistan's interests in Kabul.

The Iranian minister traveled to Pakistan with a full delegation, including trade representatives. Iranian traders have in the past complained of the poor quality of exports from Pakistan - including rice - but Iran has now directed its commercial section in Islamabad to work with Pakistani trade bodies to introduce better quality control. Trade is viewed a a key element in restoring full trust and confidence between the countries.

Sources say that over the past few weeks as tension between Pakistan and India has grown over the terror attacks on the Indian parliament, Musharraf and Khatami have been in constant touch through diplomatic channels and on the telephone. The Iranian president is said to have told Musharraf in categorical terms that in the event of an Indian-Pakistan war, Iran would support Pakistan.

According to Iranian diplomatic sources, the upcoming high-level meetings in either Tehran or Islamabad would convey a loud and clear message to both the US and India that Iran-Pakistan relations were back on a sound footing.

In return, Tehran is exerting pressure on Musharraf to back out of the US camp, into which he so readily jumped after September 11, and actively campaign for Washington to pull its forces out of the region and to prevent it from mounting similar anti-terror operations in say Iraq, Somalia or Sudan.

In this new campaign, Iran is also likely to draw on the support of Libya, Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, using the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's largest Islamic body, as a springboard.

There are also signs that some Afghan groups will join in this anti-American initiative. Recently, the Hizb-i-Islami, whose chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar lives in exile in Iran, sent a delegation to Kabul asking Karzai to take a policy stand against the US presence in Afghanistan. As was expected, the delegation returned empty-handed, after which Gulbuddin proclaimed a jihad against the Karzai administration.

It is believed that Iran, and possibly its new ally Pakistan, would support such an uprising, as would many leaders of the Northern Alliance who have been excluded from the new regime in Kabul, such as legendary mujahideen Ismail Khan, who controls the Herat region of Afghanistan to the west of the country on the Iranian border.

[Cicero]

This is somewhat hard to believe. I don't doubt that they may be doing the diplomatic shuffle, but just yesterday there was another story saying that as Pakistan loses influence in Afghanistan, Iran is moving into the power vacuum and trying to increase its market share there. In other words, Iran and Pakistan probably have to worry more about each other than they do about us. In due course, the U.S. will leave the area, but Pakistan and Iran will still be confronting each other to influence and trade with the country that separates them. It's another version of "The Great Game."