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News ID: 52251
Publish Date : 25 April 2018 - 21:36

Iran Rift Helping Saudis to Infiltrate Tajikstan



TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Riyadh is trying to foment discord between Iran and Tajikistan and turn the Central Asian country into a new ground for promotion of Wahhabism, Mehr news agency has reported.
According to the agency, attempts by Saudi Arabia to sabotage relations between the Persian speaking countries and cash in on their estrangement have paved the way for the kingdom to pitch for its plans in Tajikistan.
During a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2016, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received loans and financial aid from the Saudi government in what many believed were Riyadh’s attempts to pry a good ally away from Iran, the article said.
However, the article said the Tajik government must show vigilance towards the Saudis, as Riyadh’s assistance could have ulterior motives.
It said a pledge by Riyadh in 2017 to provide $35 million for the construction of schools in Tajikistan is aimed at propagating an extremist mindset among the youth.
The Tajik government should fight a rearguard action against such efforts if it wants to prevent the country from turning into a breeding ground for advocates of a radical interpretation of Islam, it suggested.
The article said providing the Central Asian country with financial aid gives Saudi Arabia ample room for maneuver, setting up a situation ripe for the rise of extremism.
"Cold relations between Iran and Tajikistan, which share common cultural heritage, will create favorable conditions for Saudi Arabia and Takfiri groups that will definitely pose a great security challenge to Tajikistan,” the article said.
Last year, Tajikistan accused Iran of intervening in the civil war of the 1990s. The country broadcast a documentary, purportedly showing three Tajiks who claimed to have been trained in Iran before attacking politicians and other figures. Tehran strongly rejected the allegations.
The shuttering of several Iranian centers in the country at the request of Tajik authorities and their decision to slap travel and trade restrictions on citizens and goods from Iran in recent years contributed to a further souring of relations.
Another irritant has been the fate of assets transferred by Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani, whose business empire once included businesses in Tajikistan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif was in Dushanbe last week, where he held talks with President Rahmon. The meeting, described as friendly, was the second meeting between the two men over the past few months.
Mehr said the trip could open a new chapter in bilateral ties if accompanied by concrete steps.
"Improvement of Iran-Tajikistan relations, which was pursued in the foreign minister’s recent trip, requires more fundamental and considerable measures so that the two countries that share a common language could get closer to each other,” read the article.