While eyes are on the nuclear talks, Iran is looking at new possibilities in Afghanistan. The majority of US and NATO forces are set to leave Afghanistan in 2014, and Afghanistan will be holding elections the same year. These events could provide the Islamic Republic of Iran with a new set of opportunities for its Afghanistan policy. 

Post-revolution Iran has found Afghanistan to be a challenging place — not only because of its fractious political system and the ongoing war there, but also because of its rival, Pakistan. For years, Iran and Pakistan tried to undermine each other's influence in Afghanistan. Before the US invasion of 2001, they even fought proxy wars. Pakistan supported the Taliban government and the Iranian government backed its rival, the Northern Alliance, headed by the late Ahmad Shah Masoud. The two fought a bitter civil war which ended when the US invaded Afghanistan and beat the Taliban with the help of the Northern Alliance.

After the US invasion the two continued to undermine each other's political influence by forming political alliances against each other. When the Iranian government gave sacks containing hundreds of thousands of Euros to Hamid Karzai during his visit in October 2010, it wasn't just looking to pull him away from America's influence. The Iranians also wanted to pull him further away from the Pakistanis as well.

Now that America and NATO are slowly departing Afghanistan and leaving it in the hands of the Afghans, political instability could ensue. This could be especially true about the period after the 2014 elections. According to Afghan laws, Karzai won't be able to run for office for a third time and there is no guarantee that the current reconciliation talks with the Taliban will succeed. It's anybody's guess what could happen after the next elections. If history is to repeat itself, we could see more chaos and political infighting.