20 years ago: Iran Almost Invaded Afghanistan in 1998

[PakSarzameen5823]

Why do you insist?

Because it's factually correct.

 

[Hack-Hook]

When you compare Iraq and Afghanistan, it is like asmaan and zameen. The benefit for Iran in Iraq far outways any benefit from Afghanistan. Iran made the right decision to look westward towards Iraq, and now Syria/Lebanon.

For Pakistan it is a different history and geopolitical reality, as Afghanistan has always been our backyard since Dilli Sultanat and Mughal times. We are bounded on the Northeast and West by friendly nations, China and Iran respectively, and on the east by a mortal enemy. To prevent being sandwiched between Afghanistan and India, we have to be involved.

Also, Pukhtoons whom Iranians are wary of (throughout history) are friendly towards Pakistan.

well , you must consider that west of Afghanistan always was part of khorasan so you can't say we had no interest there and don't forget Afghanistan is not only Pukhtoons, they have Hazareh , they have Tajik ,... also come on Pakistan have access to free water ,who can isolate you guys?

 

[ای ایران]

They speak Persian, so I consider them Persian.

It doesnt matter what you think about them, they're not Persians. Nobody in Iran or Afghanistan considers Hazaras, Kabulis, Uzbeks and other Persian-speakers there to be ethnically "Persian".

The only ethnic Persians in Afghanistan are a section of the Tajik population that mainly lives in places like Herat and Balkh etc

Are you some idiot or just have poor command in English language?

"The graveyard of empires cannot be invaded"

Come on Iran and Pakistan.
End this quagmire.
Share Afghanistan among us....

We dont want Afghanistan.

Yes.....you now know why we let go of this Afghanistan and the balochistan.

These are tribal type people man....one day with u next day against u......

We've been seeing the same behavior for last many millennia. Nothing changes! Just headaches and misery.

You can't change them. You guys are new to this game, we've played this game for thousands of years.......

I kind of agree with you. For most Iranians going to Sistan & Balouchestan feels like visiting a foreign country. Even friends of mine from south Iran that have been there find it to be a very different place from the rest of Iran.

I feel sorry for Balouch people though. If Balouchestan was kicked out of Iran it would be 100x worse problems for both them and for us.

good decision.....

there is absolutely nothing to be gained in Afghanistan for Iran.... annexing the entire country would add almost no strategic/geopolitical value to Iran.

Afghanistan doesn't have much resources, infastracture, educated population or much of anything that makes a nation successful.

Theres a reason the Iranian government focuses westward.... That's where the geopolitical prizes are. countries with strategic territories/natural resources.

Afghanistan on the other hand has enormous value to the americans. its a perfect strategic outpost for them conveniently located right in the backyard of their current 3 biggest rivals . Iran, China and Russia.

Irans only interest in Afghanistan is to not see it become a base for hostile forces (US, Wahabis) And non geopolitical issues like narcotics/migrants/crime etc..

I agree with you but i think Iranian leaders and business people still have a lot of interest in Herat and a few of the northwestern cities and also in issues like Hamoun wetlands. But you are right that ordinary Iranians have no interest in Afghanistan and overall Iran has almost nothing to gain from there.

For Pakistan it is a different history and geopolitical reality, as Afghanistan has always been our backyard since Dilli Sultanat and Mughal times. We are bounded on the Northeast and West by friendly nations, China and Iran respectively, and on the east by a mortal enemy. To prevent being sandwiched between Afghanistan and India, we have to be involved.

Also, Pukhtoons whom Iranians are wary of (throughout history) are friendly towards Pakistan.

More like Pakistan is the backyard of Afghans and Indians than the other way around. Moghals werent Pakistanis, they are Mongol and Turkic people that conquered your forefathers and ruled them.

Anyway i dont think much of Afghanistan as a country but i find it hilarious that a Pakistani could try to call them as your 'backyard' when most of Afghanistan has nothing to do with Indian subcontient people and actually people from what is today Afghanistan have historically conquered and looted Pakistan many times in history and sold your people as slaves in the markets of Central Asia. The mountains in eastern Afghanistan became known as Hindu Kosh in Persian from the verb koshtan for that reason: Hindu Kosh = Indian killer in Persian, because during the medival period slaves taken from Pakistan by Iranian and Turkic invaders mostly died in the mountains separating the Irano-Turkic world from the Indian one as the climate and natural environments of the two are so different.

And we are not 'wary' of Pashtons. Most Iranians dont even know what a Pashton is and have never head of them. Iranians just call people from there Afghans and have no interest in them.

well , you must consider that west of Afghanistan always was part of khorasan so you can't say we had no interest there

Exactly. Herat was always an Iranian city.

 

[PakSarzameen5823]

The only ethnic Persians in Afghanistan are a section of the Tajik population that mainly lives in places like Herat and Balkh etc

That's what I meant. I should have clarified that I wasn't trying to include Hazaras and other non-Pashtun groups.

 

[drmeson]

20 years ago Iran was like 10 times weaker compared to Current one. I would say in response to such attack, Top leadership of Taliban would have been taken out by pinpoint Ballistic Missile attack.

I am 100 % sure Talibans of Afghanistan were in contacts with Iranian intelligence at that time.

 

[ای ایران]

That's what I meant. I should have clarified that I wasn't trying to include Hazaras and other non-Pashtun groups.

Ok but it also holds true for 'Tajiks' too. Not all Tajiks are actually 'Persian' ethnically. Some of them are Persianized Turks. All of the old indigenous Iranian population groups of Central Asia like the Bactrians and Sogdians are also today known as just Tajiks and speak Persian dialects. But they were always closely related to Persians ethnically anyway.

20 years ago Iran was like 10 times weaker compared to Current one. I would say in response to such attack, Top leadership of Taliban would have been taken out by pinpoint Ballistic Missile attack.

I am 100 % sure Talibans of Afghanistan were in contacts with Iranian intelligence at that time.

Nobody other than Pakistan knew who the Taliban leaders really were in the 90s. Mullah Omar was always a vague figure head and both the Rabbani government and the Northern Alliance claimed that Pakistan's army were fighting alongside the Taliban under the guise of being Taliban fighters.

There is an ABC Australia interview with Iranian detainees in Afghanistan from 1998 who had been sold by Hezbe Eslami to the Taliban where they call on Khamenei to take revenge against Taliban and Pakistanis for the massacre at Mazar-e Sharif in 1997.

 

[drmeson]

Ok but it also holds true for 'Tajiks' too. Not all Tajiks are actually 'Persian' ethnically. Some of them are Persianized Turks. All of the old indigenous Iranian population groups of Central Asia like the Bactrians and Sogdians are also today known as just Tajiks and speak Persian dialects. But they were always closely related to Persians ethnically anyway.


Nobody other than Pakistan knew who the Taliban leaders really were in the 90s. Mullah Omar was always a vague figure head and both the Rabbani government and the Northern Alliance claimed that Pakistan's army were fighting alongside the Taliban under the guise of being Taliban fighters.

There is an ABC Australia interview with Iranian detainees in Afghanistan from 1998 who had been sold by Hezbe Eslami to the Taliban where they call on Khamenei to take revenge against Taliban and Pakistanis for the massacre at Mazar-e Sharif in 1997.

I know man, I know ... and trust me on this, Iranian state has probably avenged the blood of few of ours by hundreds and thousands of those who tried to hurt us before. Its time to move on. Iran will play a massive role in next afghan civil war post US withdrawal. We are nor Iran of 90s anymore.

 

[Arsalan 345]

First of all stop assuming because I bring logic to a conversation I am automatically a US military supporter. I am Iranian you moron.

2nd I know you didn’t bother to learn the English language, but I said Pakistan harbored top al queda and Taliban leaders which is true unless you live on a different planet (which most Pakistan users on here do). With the US steamrolling Taliban in 2001 bin laden and large amounts of Taliban and al queda leadership fled through torra borra mountains into Pakistan.

I mean later Bin laden himself was killed while living next to a major Pakistan military school. And yes Pakistan warlords are terrorists and terrorist sympathizers. Northern Pakistan at one point was Taliban 2.0 and even Pakistan military bases were under constant Insurgent attacks.

After the “surge” was over in iraq and Afghanistan, the US and NATO withdrew most of their troops and relied on the afghan army to keep control of their country.

Trust me no one (not Iran nor Pakistan) wants that dump known as Afghanistan whose main export is opium and drugs. US was going to leave Afghanistan eventually, just like it left Libya.

But let’s not kid ourselves, if US wanted to they could deploy 150,000 troops and move province by province and eliminate Taliban. Just look what Iraq did to ISIS when ISIS had control of nearly half of Iraq. ISIS had way more skilled fighters than a bunch of overweight Pashtuns with ak 47s.

The issue with Afghanistan is, no one wants it and no wants to put troops to fight in a country that holds very little strategic gains for the US (other than encircling iran with military bases).

So while it’s important to point out US defeats in the region (Iraq, Yemen, Syria). I don’t consider Afghanistan a total defeat for the US since they accomplished the bulk of their objectives. US was never going to permantely occupy Afghanistan, it simply is not an important country. If the Afghan army cannot hold its ground after 18 years, then that’s not the US job to be the Afghan army.

dude my first language is not english so yes there are many mistakes but i hope you understand my point.you can say whatever you want.pakistan knows the ground reality.today many of your newspapers published articles and they are on the same subject.i mean about afghanistan war and how america lost it.if you think that pakistani are living on another planet than you at least make an admission of your defeat.you are defeated just like in vietnam.you can't win wars using your army.you are done.even talibans told that the focus of this new discussion with americans is the withdrawal of americans.where are you living? these news are in public and it's a disgrace for a super power like america.osama bin laden is killed.he is gone.he will not come back but you dragged this war too long.if talibans are really your enemies,why are you engaging them in conversations? you have to leave afghanistan.it's over even pakistan can't change anything now.there is so much destruction.it's like a graveyard.