![Members of a Taliban delegation, led by chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C, front), leave after peace talks with Afghan senior politicians in Moscow, Russia May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina - RC17FC2683A0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/12/RTX6X5BK.jpg/RTX6X5BK.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=4D2NX_VF)
Mohsen Shariatinia is an assistant professor of regional studies at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. On Twitter: @m_shariatinia
![Members of a Taliban delegation, led by chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C, front), leave after peace talks with Afghan senior politicians in Moscow, Russia May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina - RC17FC2683A0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/12/RTX6X5BK.jpg/RTX6X5BK.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=4D2NX_VF)
![Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd L) speaks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (not pictured) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China August 26, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool via REUTERS - RC1FEEA021B0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/11/RTS2NXA3.jpg/RTS2NXA3.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=57EXJdbC)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) gestures during a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, February 17, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RC12E8F257F0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/06/RTX4XEC1.jpg/RTX4XEC1.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=spOtVEzv)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said al-Said in Muscat, Oman January 14, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS - RC1FF4CF4E30](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/04/RTS2AKZ3.jpg/RTS2AKZ3.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Yoq1tD4o)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi iduring their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China February 19, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool via REUTERS - RC12EA87AC90](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/03/RTX6NCQV.jpg/RTX6NCQV.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=9MJa0DqI)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shakes hands with his Iraqi counterpart Mohamed Ali Alhakim, in Baghdad, Iraq January 13, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily - RC1447E53E80](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/02/RTS2AF8Z.jpg/RTS2AF8Z.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=YU1ZSV_Y)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Members of Taliban delegation take their seats during the multilateral peace talks on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russia November 9, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RC1BDF87BDC0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/01/RTS2587D.jpg/RTS2587D.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=79ra-bDf)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Iran's President Hassan Rouhani walks by his country's flag at a news conference on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid - HP1EE9Q1DYAGU](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/11/RTS22YLY.jpg/RTS22YLY.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=xK8MaoX8)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif meets with European Commissioner for Energy and Climate, Miguel Arias Canete, in Tehran, Iran May 20, 2018. REUTERS/Alissa de Carbonnel - RC1C675026A0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/10/RTS1SERQ.jpg/RTS1SERQ.jpg?h=98581897&itok=bEgNOiZs)
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Mohsen Shariatinia
![Iranian soldiers sit atop their tanks in an Iranian border province next to Afghanistan October 1. Iranian forces staged mock attacks close to the border with Afghanistan in preparation for war-games involving over 200,000 troops. - PBEAHUMFTDH](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/09/RTXHZOX.jpg/RTXHZOX.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=DCv683yj)
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Mohsen Shariatinia