Political Science
“Peace and Cooperation in Central Eurasia: An Iranian Outlook” is an article written by Jahangir Karami. Karami is an assistant professor at the University of Tehran in the Russian Studies department. Therefore the article is especially interesting because it is from an Iranian’s point of view. Iran and Russia have had many opportunities during the past 15 to 20 years to interact and become more culturally aware of each other. The opportunities have become possible because of the need to cooperate on issues concerning the countries of Central Eurasia that lie between the two large powers. The rise of the Taliban is an example of a dangerous issue that Iran helped Russia solve. In the years from 1996 to 2001 both countries worked cooperatively to support the Afghan Northern Alliance in order to help the people of Afghanistan fight the Talban.
Both Iran and Russia immediately supported the Northern Alliance when the Taliban took over the country in 1996. There were reasons for both countries to want to stop the radical group, the Taliban, from taking over Afghanistan. The Taliban posed a security risk to both Russia and to Iran. Russia’s foreign minister at the time, Yevgeny Primakov, met with Iranian leaders in Tehran, which demonstrated their close cooperation. Not only were the Taliban a security threat - the drug trafficking that increased with the Taliban in power caused increased problems with drug smuggling and drug use in both countries. This became another opportunity for the leadership in Tehran and Moscow to sign a cooperative agreement to stop drug smuggling. Karami noted in the article that “The US eventually overthrew the Taliban with Iranian assistance and with the support of Russian forces.”
Interestingly many more opportunities are opening up for collaboration between Iran and Russia. Some of those, according to the author, are due to the foreign policy actions of the US; others are due to the mutual desire held by Iran and Russia for stability in the region.
Reference
Karami, J. (2009 June 7). Peace and Cooperation in Central Eurasia: An Iranian Outlook. Russia in Global Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Retrieved from http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/number/n_13032
