IRAN AND THE CIVIL WAR IN TAJIKISTAN
IRAN AND THE CIVIL WAR IN TAJIKISTAN

Summary/Abstract: This article seeks to analyse Iran’s early interactions with independent Tajikistan in a cogent manner that clearly sets out Iran’s actual policies and actions during the period of the Tajik Civil War. Almost entirely this article will deal with Iran’s foreign policy behaviour as it related to the Tajik Civil War, and its interactions not only with the Tajik government and opposition, but also the other prominent regional party to this conflict, Russia. In doing so, this article will provide context to the conflict that tore Tajikistan apart, necessarily outlining the key factors and actors involved in the Tajik Civil War and examine Iran’s actions throughout this conflict and the drawn out peace process which sought to bring an end to the violence that gripped Tajikistan between 1992 and 1997. Drawing upon numerous primary sources and interviews conducted with Iranian and Tajik government officials and scholars this article sheds new and thought provoking light of this controversial and divisive period of Iran’s early involvement in post-Soviet Tajikistan.

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