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Iranian-Pakistani border incident reveals deeper problems

Skirmishes on the Iranian-Pakistani border are not new, but reveal deeper problems between two large countries that have not capitalized on potential opportunities to improve relations.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, September 26, 2014.  REUTERS/Mike Segar   (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR47V5B

Iran’s nightmare on its border with Pakistan continues unabated. After a brief lull, violence in the volatile border region is once again on the rise. Tehran is accusing Islamabad of turning a blind eye to cross-border raids by militants, which Islamabad is predictably rebutting. Despite this latest public fallout, neither Iranian nor Pakistani officials appear any closer to conceding that the recurrent violence is a symptom of broader underlying problems. At its core, it's the reality of state-to-state disengagement and regional competition that continues to undermine relations between the two largest countries of southwest Asia.

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