Iran’s Political Influence

This chapter explores Iran’s political influence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the intent of demonstrating how Tehran has employed a variety of tools to gain influence over certain political groups in the two countries. Since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, Tehran has initiated its activities to gain and expand its political influence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This however has achieved different results because of the differing dynamics of the targeted countries. While Iran’s political influence in Pakistan is largely limited to Shi’a groups, including the most that have limited political impact and the Pakistan Peoples Party, Tehran’s political influence in Afghanistan has been more visible. As examined in this chapter, Iran has been trying for a greater influence in Afghanistan through direct connections with policymakers and government officials. In Pakistan, Iran’s influence remained limited to Shi’a groups and has not been fully expanded to formal political parties and parliament, although some of these Shi’a groups such as Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen have often participated in formal politics. As analysed in this chapter, Iran’s political approach faces a serious test as the Afghan Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021 and re-established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.