Iran Looks to Afghanistan To End Political Isolation

The Iranian government is looking to south Asia and Afghanistan in particular as a way to relieve its economic and diplomatic isolation, Fatemah Aman writes for Al-Monitor, explaining the move also could exploit a major US vulnerability — the US desire for an orderly troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014.
Workers load goods onto ships at the port in Deira, February 27, 2012. Financial sanctions imposed over Iran's disputed nuclear programme have dealt a heavy blow to its foreign trade. Since late last year the United States has stepped up its use of anti-money laundering legislation to make it legally dangerous for banks that have any U.S. business to maintain ties with Iran. As a result, Iranian firms have been frozen out of much of the global banking system which finances trade. It is difficult or impossib
Workers load goods onto ships at the port in Deira, Feb. 27, 2012. Financial sanctions imposed over Iran's disputed nuclear program have dealt a heavy blow to its foreign trade. - REUTERS/Ashraf Abu Omar

Burdened by European sanctions and growing popular dissatisfaction, the Iranian government is looking to south Asia — Afghanistan, in particular  — as a way to relieve its economic and diplomatic isolation. A key element is the Iranian port of Chahbahar, which can serve as a gateway to Afghanistan and central Asia.

Afghanistan is not just a neighbor to Iran but, more than any other place, the country where Iranian and American interests most overlap. At the same time, the Iranian government sees Afghanistan as a country where it can exploit a major US vulnerability — the US desire for an orderly troop withdrawal by 2014.

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