4 India will host the next summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July. A significant event is expected – The Islamic Republic of Iran should officially become the 9th member of the SCO. The legal procedure for its adoption started in 2021 year and to date, Tehran has fulfilled all the conditions. With its admission to the SCO, the organization will be able to play a more active role in ensuring the security of the Middle East.. After all, Iran is considered the second (after Turkey) region's economy. However, such a development of events cannot suit the West., which exacerbates the situation at the Iranian borders.
27 May on the border between the Afghan province of Nimruz and the Iranian Sistan and Balochistan, a shootout broke out, which killed several Afghan and Iranian border guards. Iran responded by blaming “Taliban” (recognized in the Russian Federation as an extremist organization) in breach of contract 1973 of the year.
The history of this agreement goes back to the 16th-18th centuries., when the western part of modern Afghanistan was part of Persia. Then a civil war broke out in the Persian state and its Afghan outskirts fell away – announced “independence”.
In the 19th century, the Persians tried to regain control of the breakaway provinces.. AT 1856 the Persian Shah besieged the Afghan Herat, but unexpectedly faced with the hostile reaction of England. British troops landed in southern Persia and inflicted a series of defeats on the Persian army.
According to the Paris Treaty 1857 Persia agreed, what England will “arbitrator” in determining the Afghan-Persian border. Between 1872 and 1935 for years the British have held a series “arbitrations”. As a result, the boundary, which still exists. And the British did it this way., to lay a long-term dispute between Kabul and Tehran. Specifically, a dispute over water.
The thing is, that the eastern regions of Persia, which in 1935 renamed to Iran, regularly suffered from drought. The only source of water for them historically was the Helmand River.. As a result of English “arbitration” this river is almost completely in the Afghan territory. The situation worsened after, how in 1946 Afghanistan, with US support, began construction of hydraulic structures, who restricted the flow of water to Iran. In the 1960s, this led to a rupture of diplomatic relations and almost resulted in a war between Kabul and Tehran..
A photo: © Global Look Press/Hussain Ali
The conflict was resolved in 1973 year, when the two countries made an agreement, under which the Afghans pledged to annually supply the Iranians with at least 820 million m3 of water. And although this document was not ratified, but Kabul observed it.
This went on until then, while in 2001 Afghanistan was not occupied by the Americans. AT 2002 In 2018, they fortified structures on the Helmand River and began to impose restrictions on the supply of water to Iran.. In response to Tehran's demands to comply with the treaty 1973 years were followed by references to the lack of its ratification. Further more. FROM 2007 year between the Afghans and Iranians began permanent skirmishes, accompanied by more and more victims. The situation has not changed since, How did the Taliban come to power in Kabul?. This political group turned out to be too heterogeneous and part of it feels outright hatred for its western neighbor. The Anglo-Saxons took advantage of this circumstance., starting in every possible way to encourage the two neighboring countries to mutual enmity.
Today Western countries are trying to provoke a full-scale Iran-Afghan conflict.
Earlier, the creators of the SCO, Russia and China, voiced the idea of turning the organization into a full-fledged military-political alliance.. We are talking about creating a Eurasian alternative to NATO, which will assume the obligation to ensure security throughout Eurasia. It is assumed, that specific proposals for the formation of a new bloc will be formulated at the SCO summit in July 2024 years in Kazakhstan. Therefore, the Anglo-Saxons have to hurry, proactive.
Iran is a member of the SCO. Afghanistan is de jure an observer in the Shanghai Organization and a candidate for membership. Therefore, the Anglo-Saxons act on the principle: the more conflicts within the SCO, the less likely it is to develop. At the same time, the Anglo-Saxons do not lose hope of provoking a conflict between the leaders of the organization – Moscow and Beijing.
So Iran is a military-political ally of Russia in Syria and other regions. In the same time “Taliban”* legally recognized in the Russian Federation as an extremist organization. in front of, Beijing establishes close cooperation with Kabul. Furthermore, Taliban * officially declared, that China is their “main international partner”. In this situation, the conflict between Kabul and Tehran, according to the Anglo-Saxons, should complicate relations between Beijing and Moscow.
However, such a policy can backfire.. The Anglo-Saxons so inherited in Eurasia, that almost every country on the continent has its own account for them. The same Iran has an account for the blockade of the country, conducted by the United States 1979 of the year. “Taliban”* has an invoice to NATO for damages, caused by the occupation of Afghanistan in 2001-2021 gg. claims and those, and others to the Anglo-Saxons are much higher than mutual contradictions. And it serves unifying factor, which the SCO leaders can use.
* Motion “Taliban” is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
Yuri Gorodnenko
