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Tehran-Kabul relationship faces difficult road

As militants begin to prepare for the spring offensive, Iran will face new challenges in dealing with its neighbor to the east.
A policeman keeps watch at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Farah province February 4, 2015. Farah offers a prime example of Afghanistan's nexus between Islamist militancy, crime, opium and Kabul's feeble grip on power. Residents say problems escalated after foreign troops withdrew in early 2013 and locals in Farah's most lawless areas say the breakdown in order is complete. Farah has doubled its poppy harvest in five years, is Afghanistan's third largest opium producing region and occupies a key position i
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Iran is likely to face renewed challenges in Afghanistan, where militants are expected to launch their annual spring offensive. While much focus is on the issues the Islamic republic faces to its west, in Iraq and Syria, the challenges to its east may well prove to be at least equally vexing for Tehran.

Over the last 15 years, the Afghan situation has epitomized the ups and downs Iran has experienced in its relations with its Arab rivals and the United States. 

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