The rise of iran a great threat to pashtun identity

[gadoonwal]

Most of the time we discuss pakistani involvement in afghan and pashtun affairs.That is well known fact that pakistan did everything to keep pashtuns as their slaves and afghanistan its fifth province.
The game is changed now pakistan now trying to at least keep the pashtun part of afghanistan under its control.
The main reason for that is the growing influence of iran in the region.
Iran in fact trying to make afghanistan a persain nation.They invested millions of dollars in afghan media.They are currently working with farsibans intellectuals of afghanistan to introduce a common dialect of farsi langauge in afghanistan and iran.I am not opposed to this change in principle but these are politically motivated by iranian nationalists.
They are imposing their language and culture on the majority and so far their partners in kabul are succesfull.
The rise of iran will harm afghanistan and pashtun identity spacailly in afghanistan.
Their growing influence spacailly in south westren(herat,farah,nimroz) afghanistan is well known.
Their agents in kabul care more for their persain interests then afghan interests.Abdullah,salih,Muhaqeq,Raheen and others are fully backed by iran.
They are in the process of creating more identities on afghan soil.


I see iran a great threat to pashtun identity.It is no different to pakistan.
Pakistan and iran somehow created boundry lines in afghanistan.
Let see what happen after 2014.
These tow countries will once again use ethnics,lets not hope for it but this how it is.

[ډګروال]

Most of the time we discuss pakistani involvement in afghan and pashtun affairs.That is well known fact that pakistan did everything to keep pashtuns as their slaves and afghanistan its fifth province.
this is totally false.
most of the time our problem with pakistan is because of its occupation of pukhtunkhwa and the war that is going on there by punjabistan.
yes pakis do have some slaves and they are the peopel like ANP,fc and such.
keeping Afghanistan as ts fifth province? this must be the joke of the century.
they cant even keep pukhtunkhwa as their province let alone Afghanistan which is bigger than punjabistan.

The game is changed now pakistan now trying to at least keep the pashtun part of afghanistan under its control.

false again
this is the most common propaganda. But there were some pashtuns especially in the so called pashtun nationalist parties in pukhtunkhwa who wanted to see east Afghanistan to come under pakistan. Pashtun areas is whole Afghanistan not just south and east. herat is over 50% pashtun and also pashtuns are living in northern cities.

The main reason for that is the growing influence of iran in the region.
iranian influence has already reached its top and its due to their support for american invasion of Afghanistan. their surrogates were put in power positions. Parliament is full of shias ,hebze wahdath members. The tv channels such as tolo tv, tolonews,lamar,ariana,and many more are promoting iranian interests and shiasm.they are also implementing pehlavi parsi instead of dari (which is original persian).they also have many supposed pashtun employees who do the same. watch some pashto debate programes on tolonews you will get the point
Iran in fact trying to make afghanistan a persain nation.They invested millions of dollars in afghan media.They are currently working with farsibans.
they may try but they cant make it a persian country.
matter of fact it has been pashtun kings who have implemented the persian language and not iran. it is also people such as karzai who are helping iran in their political games.
in this vdeo karzai claims that Afghanistan and iran share the same language.
President Hamid Karzai is crazy,and becomes more and more mad,Farsi is not a language of Afghanistan - YouTube
karzai also attended the persian conference many times even though afghanistan is a majority non persian speaking country and the main language is pashto.



intellectuals of afghanistan to introduce a common dialect of farsi langauge in afghanistan and iran.I am not opposed to this change in principle but these are politically motivated by iranian nationalists.
i dont know which intellectuals are you talking about.


They are imposing their language and culture on the majority and so far their partners in kabul are succesfull.

actually in tv channels such as tolo i do hear many iranian words such as hawapaima instead of tayara,daneshgah instead of pohantoon and offcourse the gay accent they put on.

The rise of iran will harm afghanistan and pashtun identity spacailly in afghanistan.
no doubt since pashtun identity is sunni muslim and iran is a shia state.
but
what do you mean with pashtun identity?
if its that fascist mentality that is coming from pashtun nationalists from pukhtunkhwa than im sorry to say that is as harmful as the iranian influence.


Their growing influence spacailly in south westren(herat,farah,nimroz) afghanistan is well known.

their influence is actually the most in kabul ,in th eparliament,in some ministeies,and media.
for example this is the main office of tolotv.

ive heard minitery of science is almost totally under control of iranians.

Their agents in kabul care more for their persain interests then afghan interests.Abdullah,salih,Muhaqeq,Raheen and others are fully backed by iran.
these people no doubt think about their personal interest than that of the nation including their own ethnicities. these guys are no doubt backed by iran but also by pakistan since they made many trips to pakistan and atta noor muhammad was against protest against pakistan following the durrand line clashes.pakistan is also building schools in his area.

They are in the process of creating more identities on afghan soil.
Afghanistan is not an easy country , there are dozens of countries involved to implement their wil on Afghan people but they fail. so will iran .
keep in mind majority of parsiwans as you put them dont follow iranian aganeda or iran. Also iran is stealing Afghan water the same way pakistan does through pukhtunkhw(which is another reason to be angry at pakistan).

I see iran a great threat to pashtun identity.
i see iran a great threat to sunni Afghan nation.
define pashtun identity?

It is no different to pakistan.

there is
pakistan has occupied Afghan land while iran is using proxies to gain influence and economics gains,pakistan also gains economic gains since they also got many contracts such as building roads etc.Also pakistan has destroyd the language of pukhtunkhwa and is implementing hindu culture on pashtuns and are helped by pashutun nationalists

Pakistan and iran somehow created boundry lines in afghanistan.
Let see what happen after 2014.
These tow countries will once again use ethnics,lets not hope for it but this how it is.

pakistan and iran did not creat Afghan borders, that is just false.
what ethnic will pakistan use? if you want to say pashtuns than i have to disapoint you since afghans especially pashtuns cant stand pakistan.
lets talk about clearing pukhtunkhwa from paki hindu culture and languge which has a total grip on the education and government institutions.

[ډګروال]

this should a good example of what Afghans think

picture of khomeini condoned by karzai to commomorate anniversary of his shia revolution in Iran.


Afghan reaction

Echoes of Khomeini

Following a week in which students, civil activists and women's rights groups took to the streets of Kabul to demonstrate different causes, the capital was once again host to protests on Tuesday June 4th. This time students and campaigners gathered to denounce the government's commemoration of Iranian revolutionary Imam Khomeini at a conference held in Kabul.


Protesters took to the streets over a conference commemorating the 24th anniversary of the death of Imam Khomeini, who led the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The commemoration was held in the Shiite Al-Zahra Mosque in Kabul,but also celebrated in other provinces. Pictured are two men showing their disapproval of the government-endorsed event. The slogan on the left says: 'Upholding national values is our duty.' The man on the right carries a banner that reads: 'This is Kabul, not Riyadh or Doha! - See more at: Afghanistan Today - Picture story 56: Echoes of Khomeini

Others carried banners with derogatory sentiments about Tehran and also Islamabad. The demonstration came amid an apparent swell in protest marches, in Kabul at least. - See more at: Afghanistan Today - Picture story 56: Echoes of Khomeini


















iranina consulate


outside the country

[ډګروال]

Kabul
Afghan demonstrations against Khamenei Ahmadinejad Kabul Iran - YouTube
Afghans burning and tearing apart photos of Ahmadinejad - Kabul 13 Jan. 2011 - YouTube
‫مظاهره چيان خشمگين سفارت ايران را آماج قرار دادند‬‎ - YouTube
Demonstrations near Iran Embassy in Kabul - YouTube
Mazar e shareef
Afghan women protest against Iranian Regime - Mazar-i-Sharif 29 Jan. 2011 - YouTube
Afghan women protest against Iranian Regime - Mazar-i-Sharif 29 Jan. 2011 - YouTube



Herat
Herat1 - YouTube
More protests against Iran - YouTube
Protest against Iran part 3 - YouTube

Jalalabad
Afghans protests against executions in Iran - Jalalabad 13 May 2010 - YouTube

[randolph85]

ironically, many of these anti iran protestors look to be tajik and hazara.

lets be honest though, iran isn't doing anything that afghanistan wouldn't do if given the chance. farsi has been prevelent within the modern borders of afghanistan for hundreds of years, and hundreds of years before there was such a thing as afghanistan. afghanistan is not much of a priority for iran, not like iraq. persian culture isn't particularly strong in afg, its just that pashto culture lags behind in money and influence so at times the scales look uneven.

[gadoonwal]

dagarwal,,,
You are far from the reality when it comes to the pakistani involvement in afghan affairs.
Your entire pashtun leadership of afghanistan is link to ,,isi,,.
Karzai himself was on the payroll of ,,isi,,when he was in queta.
haqani
gulbudin
ahadi
karzai
gelani
and you name it .
Ahadi was sent by islam abad to Bone conferance after the fall of talibans.
You are still living in the good old days which is good.
The violence in pashtunkhwa is created by ,,isi,,,.ISI pay 40 to 60 lacs rupees to each suicide attackers.Most of them are pashtuns many of them also from afghanistan.

The pashtun nationalist parties in pashtunkhwa never supported the division of afghanistan.The anp itself is loyal to punjab then pashtunkhwa.

Remember that these tow countries will once again support their servants in kabul after 2014 .

Let say iranain backed groups get control of the kabul then where will pashtun get help from?


Like i say pakistan and iran never ever want stable afghanistan.
Afghanistan is rich country with natural sources specailly in the north.
It is a key route to central asia.
It is weak country with corrupt govt and leadership.The army can not even defend itself so how can they fight others.

,,,,,the patriotic people of afghanistan should stop support these warlords and pupets of pakistan and iran,,
stand for an afghan identity and for that pashtuns should play the leadership role,,,,,,
The pashtuns in pashtunkhwa should not allow pakistani agents to cross to afghanistan for destruction.
The pashtun unity need a long term strategy.You can not blame the people of pashtunkhwa for all this mess.
It was khan zahir khan king of afghanistan kept quiet in 1947 when british created pakistan.In the referendum for pakistan they put tow boxes to vote .They used the religion.There was no choice or box for azad pashtunistan and Bacha khan baba and the entire people of pashtunkhwa boycotted the referendum .
They brought people from punjab to pashtunkhwa to vote in favor of pakistan.
Your country did,nt fire a single shot for its land in the 1947,1965,1971,,,,,,,,,,

Again i am in favor of pashtun unity and freedom.
It is up to the people of pashtunkhwa to go for azad pashtunitsan or unite with afghanistan by declaring it a greater pashtuniostan.

My view is that pashtun must not live under persains and punjabis rule and influence,,,,very clear,.

[M17ArnoBaloch]

ironically, many of these anti iran protestors look to be tajik and hazara.

lets be honest though, iran isn't doing anything that afghanistan wouldn't do if given the chance. farsi has been prevelent within the modern borders of afghanistan for hundreds of years, and hundreds of years before there was such a thing as afghanistan. afghanistan is not much of a priority for iran, not like iraq. persian culture isn't particularly strong in afg, its just that pashto culture lags behind in money and influence so at times the scales look uneven.

mostly tajik. i can relate.

[Kushan Prince]

Iranians and Tajiks in general are a threat to Pashtuns.

[khushal]

ironically, many of these anti iran protestors look to be tajik and hazara.

lets be honest though, iran isn't doing anything that afghanistan wouldn't do if given the chance. farsi has been prevelent within the modern borders of afghanistan for hundreds of years, and hundreds of years before there was such a thing as afghanistan. afghanistan is not much of a priority for iran, not like iraq. persian culture isn't particularly strong in afg, its just that pashto culture lags behind in money and influence so at times the scales look uneven.

The Tajik people hate Iran and shias. Its just that their leaders are sold outs.

[Kushan Prince]

pakistan and iran did not creat Afghan borders, that is just false.
what ethnic will pakistan use? if you want to say pashtuns than i have to disapoint you since afghans especially pashtuns cant stand pakistan.
lets talk about clearing pukhtunkhwa from paki hindu culture and languge which has a total grip on the education and government institutions.

Those Hazaras in your picture seem to favour Iranians?

[ComradePashtun]

Iran’s Outreach to Afghanistan, Tajikistan Faces Obstacles

By Kevjn Lim, on 05 Jun 2013, Briefing

For all the focus on contemporary Iran, relatively little attention is paid to its trilateral ties with Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the geolinguistic remnants of an eclectic series of empires collectively denominated Persian. Since 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made it a point to revive Persian nationalism, contrasting it with the clerical elite’s claim to Islam as the exclusive basis of Iranian identity. Significantly, Ahmadinejad’s nationalist rhetoric was accompanied by a raft of summits, forums and agreements among the three countries, which he called “limbs of the same body,” echoing the 13th-century Persian poet Saadi.

Despite the historical echoes, however, the current effort is driven by Iran’s strategic interests. A 2009 United Nations report (.pdf) estimated that 40 percent of opiates produced in Afghanistan—the source of 90 percent of global supply—transit through Iran, giving rise to Iranian addiction rates five times greater than Europe’s. The spillover impact is also felt in Iran's southeast, where an armed narco-insurgency by the Sunni Baluch group Jundollah seethes on.

Afghanistan’s successive wars have moreover burdened Iran with the world's largest refugee population after Pakistan. Iran’s treatment of Afghan refugees, including execution and deportation, has raised tensions with Kabul. This may be linked to another focus of Iranian interest involving an ongoing dispute over the Helmand River, which irrigates the parched Sistan basin that spans the border, rendering Iran vulnerable to Afghan dam construction.

But the post-Taliban turbulence in Afghanistan has also permitted closer relations with Kabul, even as Iran counterintuitively supports (.pdf) the reconstituted Taliban to undercut U.S. influence. Tehran remains Afghanistan's leading per capita income donor, and full-spectrum Iranian investment, notably around Herat, raised the value of bilateral trade to $1.5 billion in 2010. Education and cultural-religious outreach, key elements of Iranian engagement with Afghanistan, concurrently aim to thwart Wahhabi-Deobandi influences bankrolled by Riyadh and Islamabad. Iran also has the ear of Afghanistan's top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Asif Mohseni, while returning Afghan refugees subtly propagate Iranian thinking.

Furthermore, Iran has a keen interest in Afghanistan’s mineral deposits, estimated to be worth more than $1 trillion. Tehran and New Delhi envisage rail-linking Iran's Chabahar port with Bamyan’s Hajigak iron mines, where India is eyeing a lucrative deal. Once built, the transit corridor would allow Afghanistan and India to skirt Pakistan’s politically difficult and insecure territory, while making Iran, the ancient Silk Road's linchpin, a major maritime outlet for Central Asia.

Enter Tajikistan, whose geography is key to anchoring Iranian interests in the landlocked region. There are plans for a road-rail-energy superhighway spanning Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan and ultimately tapping into China. Cultural, literary and educational exchange have likewise made strides, and Dushanbe has supported Tehran during tough times, including announcing in June 2012 its intentions to purchase sanctioned Iranian oil.

Although Tajikistan attracts meager foreign investment and relies overwhelmingly on Russia for its energy needs, Iran is fast filling the vacuum with trade and infrastructural investments like the Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric station. Powered by significant glacial reserves, such dams sustain Tajikistan’s critical aluminum and cotton sectors and allow it to diversify away from hydrocarbons, notwithstanding downstream anxieties. In exchange, Iran is looking to secure fresh water for its arid northeast.

Still, Iran’s aspirations for extended influence face obstacles.

First, mutual suspicions and differences linger. Shiites constitute one-fifth of Afghanistan's population, and the majority Pashtun Sunnis still dominate the government. Tajikistan’s Sunni-Shiite ratio is starker still, with Soviet-inherited secularism and growing Sunni fundamentalism further hindering Iranian outreach. Dushanbe’s mistrust has even rattled elite plans for a trinational Persian-language TV channel and blocked Tehran’s push for a visa-free regime. As a result, Iran’s efforts to highlight the three countries’ common heritage, rather than religion, still face significant long-term impediments.

Second, massive instability persists. Afghanistan and Tajikistan are no strangers to fundamentalism, and Iran's opportunistic if risky dalliance with the Taliban alarms many, as did its alleged support for the Islamic Revival Party during Tajikistan’s civil war. An armed insurgency continues to drain the Tajik government’s patience and resources, and provides justification for the stifling of religious practice. Afghan narcotics and atrocious Tajik border policing only add to the problems. Similarly, deep-seated ethnic tensions threaten to upend Afghan peace efforts and rekindle Tajik civil strife.

Third, economic uncertainty prevails. Foreign aid comprises 91 percent of Afghanistan's economy, and much of what’s left persistently reverts to poppy cultivation. Tajikistan, though better off in many ways, endures as the most destitute ex-Soviet state, with 47 percent of its GDP underwritten by remittances, according to the World Bank (.pdf). Both are saddled with systemic corruption, high unemployment, dire poverty and conspicuous underdevelopment. Meanwhile, Iran’s economy has suffered under sanctions linked to its nuclear program.

Fourth, both Afghanistan and Tajikistan’s strategic circumstances favor balance, not alignment. Afghanistan’s priority is still to counter the Taliban and Haqqani-led insurgencies, making their sponsor, Pakistan, Kabul’s primary strategic concern. The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has consequently deepened ties with India, but only enough to create the same balance it has achieved vis-a-vis Tehran and Washington. Virtually starting from scratch, Afghanistan needs as wide a range of benefactors as its diplomacy can muster.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan’s economic sclerosis leaves it stuck in Russia’s shadow. The Kremlin recently renewed its in-country military presence for several decades, but this helps Dushanbe interdict the ingress of drugs and insurgents, balance against Uzbekistan and guarantee the flow of oil and Russian-sourced remittances. While Iran’s cash is welcome in Dushanbe, Tehran’s agenda isn't.

Finally, whereas pan-Turkism did not live up to the exuberance of Turkey's Central Asia foray in the 1990s, deeper Persian integration—assuming Ahmadinejad's successor stays the course—could arouse a Turkic solidarity that further hampers Iranian interests.

While seeking to expand its influence out of self-interest, Iran has arguably fostered some stability in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Should it manage to reintegrate itself into the global arena, Iran could actually become a far more potent force for constructive change in the region.