Iran, with its breadth of experience in Afghanistan and long support for the reconstruction and stabilization of Afghanistan, could continue to play a constructive role after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014. In this report the author details the evolution of Iran's policy of strategic pragmatism in Afghanistan. Understanding this policy could provide an opportunity for the international community to re-engage with Iran on a broad range of issues of mutual concern.
This paper is published under the Wider Central Asia Initiative, a two-year SIPRI project to promote and facilitate dialogue among the main external stakeholders in Afghanistan's future. The initiative is funded by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
1. Introduction
2. Iran's engagement in Afghanistan: from the Islamic Revolution to the fall of the Taliban, 1979-2001
3. Iran's engagement with Afghanistan: from the US-led invasion to the foreign withdrawal, 2001-14
4. Iran's post-2014 engagement in Afghanistan
5. Conclusions and recommendations