Fatemeh Aman and Alex Vatanka, National Interest: Iran's Other ISIS Problem
Tehran can't ignore Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On paper, Iran should be the one country in west Asia that does its utmost to counter the message of Islamic State (ISIS). The movement, after all, is both vehemently anti-Shia and deeply anti-Iranian in its messaging and worldview. However, Iran’s efforts to combat ISIS have been missing one important element, one that should be a prerequisite to any successful anti-ISIS campaign: taking innovative and meaningful steps to inoculate Iran’s own Sunni minority against ISIS dogma. Time is also a factor. Tehran sees ISIS’ rise in Iraq and Syria as a long-term challenge, but meanwhile, the movement’s emergence to Iran’s east, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, may not be as temporary as many have assumed.
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WNU Editor: The perception of Iran has always been one of a monolithic and unified Persian - Shiite country. Reality on the ground is anything but. And while the Sunni populations are mainly in the east along the Pakistan and Afghanistan .... that is where ISIS is growing and expanding its influence.
1 comment:
A good portion of the Iranian Sunni population also lies on the North Western portion of the country, which is on the Iraqi border. Fortunately much of it has a Kurdish buffer zone from Islamic State. The Sunni minority has always been a repressed portion of the population. Much like how Saudi Arabia has a Shiite minority problem, Iran could have a Sunni minority problem. If Islamic State reaches out and connects with this population, it could be a real problem for Iran. This demographic map of the region I think really shows the problem.
https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/01/Shia-and-Oil-lg.jpg
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