![Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov take part in a joint press conference following their meeting in Ashgabat on March 11, 2015. Hassan Rouhani is on his first state visit to Turkmenistan. AFP PHOTO / IGOR SASIN (Photo credit should read IGOR SASIN/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2015/03/465829024.jpg/465829024.jpg?h=be905963&itok=hmsUGw-P)
Alex Vatanka is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. Vatanka is the author of a forthcoming book on Iran and Pakistan: Security, Diplomacy and American Influence to be published by I.B. Tauris.
![Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov take part in a joint press conference following their meeting in Ashgabat on March 11, 2015. Hassan Rouhani is on his first state visit to Turkmenistan. AFP PHOTO / IGOR SASIN (Photo credit should read IGOR SASIN/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2015/03/465829024.jpg/465829024.jpg?h=be905963&itok=hmsUGw-P)
![Afghan children gesture at U.S. soldiers from Grim Company of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment as they stand guard near an Afghan police checkpoint during a mission near Forward Operating Base Fenty in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4INDK](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/12/RTR4INDK.jpg/RTR4INDK.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=S1JUuelW)
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Alex Vatanka
![Saudi soldiers stand guard in Jizan on the border with Yemen November 3, 2014. Gains by the Shi'ite Houthi rebel movement in Yemen are ringing alarm bells in Saudi Arabia, concerned for what it means for its vulnerable southern border, already the conduit for a constant flow of illicit activity. Picture taken November 3, 2014. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4DNW9](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/11/RTR4DNW9.jpg/RTR4DNW9.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=Yzu0e1_k)
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Alex Vatanka
![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](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/10/RTR47V5B.jpg/RTR47V5B.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=nTEhYlmL)
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Alex Vatanka
![EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi listens to the opening speech during the Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran September 14, 2010. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2IB57](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/07/RTR2IB57.jpg/RTR2IB57.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=s9mxlWJU)
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Alex Vatanka