International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has stripped Belarus of the right to hold the World Championship this year
Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny arrested on arrival as he returns home
LONG READ: The oligarch problem
COVID-19 and Trump’s indifference helped human rights abusers in 2020
Russian opposition activist Navalny calls for supporters to take to the streets this weekend
One of Russia’s biggest wood product companies, Segezha could be Sistema’s next IPO
Oligarchs trying to derail Ukraine’s privatisation programme, warns the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund
New Ukrainian VC firm QPDigital aims to invest up to $100 million in digital startups
VISEGRAD BLOG: Central Europe's populists need a new strategy for Biden
OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Czech Pirates and Mayors approve final coalition agreement for 2021 elections
OUTLOOK 2021 Czechia
OUTLOOK 2021 Hungary
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
BALKAN BLOG: US approach to switch from quick-fix dealmaking to experience and cooperation
Corona-induced slump in global clothing sector dragged down Albania’s 2020 exports
BALKAN BLOG: The controversial recipe for building up Albania
Heavy flooding causes chaos in parts of Southeast Europe
Turnover rose on Bosnia's two stock exchanges in 2020 while prices fell
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
Bulgaria’s government considers gradual easing of COVID-related restrictions
Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures holds first close of new fund on €44mn
ING THINK: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
Zagreb Stock Exchange's Crobex10 index at highest level since March 5
OUTLOOK 2021 Kosovo
Arrera Automobili aims to launch Albania’s first supercar
OUTLOOK 2021 Moldova
World Bank revises projection for Moldova’s 2020 GDP decline to 7.2%
Moldova’s PM resigns to prepare the ground for early elections
Montenegrins say state administration is most corrupt institution
75% of Montenegrins want EU membership
Montenegro’s new ruling coalition carves up top state jobs
North Macedonia's manufacturing confidence indicator down by 8.5 pp y/y in December
OUTLOOK 2021 North Macedonia
OUTLOOK 2021 Romania
Romania’s central bank cuts monetary policy rate by 25bp to 1.25%
Romanian construction companies' activity slows in November after intense 2020
OUTLOOK 2021 Serbia
Slovenia’s opposition files no-confidence motion against Jansa cabinet
Slovenia’s government to release funds to news agency STA after EU pressure
UK Moneyhub picks Slovenia for post-Brexit European base
Slovenia’s dire COVID-19 situation in 4Q20 caused second economic dip
ISTANBUL BLOG: Biden must find a way to work with Trump’s strongman pal Erdogan
Turkcell denies any affiliation with $1.6bn loan in default extended by Ziraat Bank to Virgin Islands company
BEYOND THE BOSPORUS: Let’s tentatively pencil in a date for Turkey’s hot money outflow
CAUCASUS BLOG : What can Biden offer the Caucasus and Stans, all but forgotten about by Trump?
Armenia ‘to extend life of its 1970s Metsamor nuclear power plant after 2026’
OUTLOOK 2021 Armenia
COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Georgia’s political kingpin Bidzina Ivanishvili quits politics
TEHRAN BLOG: Will Biden bet on a quick return to the Iran nuclear deal?
Tehran Stock Exchange chief quits amid “Black Monday” fury
Durov rejects Western funds’ offer to buy 5%-10% of Telegram with $30bn valuation
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Fears of authoritarianism as Kyrgyz populist wins landslide and backing for ‘Khanstitution’
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
Mongolian coal exports to China paralysed as Beijing demands virus testing of truck drivers
Mongolia fears economic damage as country faces up to its first local transmissions of coronavirus
Mongolia in lockdown after suffering first local coronavirus transmissions
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
Download the pdf version
More...
Iran is, for some reason, back in Tajikistan’s bad books.
State television earlier this month carried a sensationalist documentary once more accusing Iran of funding militant activity in Tajikistan and, separately, the Supreme Court has sentenced dozens of graduates of Iranian universities to lengthy prison terms.
The airing of the documentary prompted the government in Tehran to summon the Tajik ambassador to the Foreign Ministry to register its unhappiness over what it called “baseless allegations”.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran seeks friendly and brotherly relations with Tajikistan based on mutual respect, but the continuation of such behaviour by the Tajik government is against the rules of friendly relations and the Tajik government must be aware of the consequences of such behavior,” the ministry was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.
Dushanbe has not responded to the summons of its envoy to Iran.
The documentary that featured claims of Iranian funding for terrorism was focused in the main on the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, or IRPT, an opposition group that the government proscribed in 2015.
“During the civil war [in the 1990s], many Tajik scholars, including Muhiddin Olimpur and Otahon Latifi, were murdered with the connivance of mercenaries from a foreign country. They were killed with the goal of ridding Tajikistan of its finest minds,” the narrator says, alluding in clear terms to Iran.
Last week, Prague-based news website Akhbor reported on the conviction of 50 people understood to have completed university degrees at Iranian universities. The trials were reportedly held behind closed doors, but Akhbor cited unnamed sources as saying the defendants were charged with treason and extremism, among other things.
One convicted person sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to Akhbor, was a son of Said Kiemitdin Gozi—a late founding member of the IRPT.
Gozi died in mysterious circumstances in prison last year. He was extradited to Tajikistan from Russia in 2017 and was later convicted by the Supreme Court to 25 years in jail on extremism charges. The term was later reduced to seven years, but Gozi would never make it out of prison. According to the government, a fight broke out one evening last May between imprisoned IRPT members and militants with a radical Islamic organization in a prison colony in the town of Vakhdat. Gozi was purportedly in that unrest.
Quite why Tajikistan keeps insisting on picking fights with Iran is not wholly clear.
It all seems to stem back to the end of 2015, when Tehran invited Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the IRPT, to attend a conference on Islam. Authorities in Tajikistan had only banned the IRPT a few months before, so Iran’s apparent endorsement of Kabiri felt like a calculated slight.
Later, President Emomali Rahmon would go on to suggest that Iran was a primary instigator of the civil war of the 1990s. Security officials have, without providing a shred of evidence, accused Iran of assisting the opposition in cooking up violent plots. Iranian businessman have been periodically squeezed out of the country. And flights were suspended.
Over this period, Tajikistan began to receive overtures from Saudi Arabia, which provided Dushanbe with money to build roads and schools.
The frost seemed to have eased in June 2019, however, when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani travelled to Dushanbe. When Rouhani met with Rahmon, the Tajik leader greeted him with the words: “Welcome to your second home.”
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak began unfolding earlier this year, Iran dispatched a team of doctors to assist their Tajik colleagues. Even as this latest brouhaha was playing out, on September 26, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian was meeting with Tajik Energy and Water Resources Minister Usmonali Uzmonzoda via videoconference call to talk about plans to increase economic and energy cooperation.
Bereft of investment as it is, Tajikistan is hardly in a position to aggravate international partners, especially one that has proven a consistent source of investment. Its decision to intermittently revive the dispute appears, accordingly, like behaviour instigated by an outside party. The only question is: which one?
This article originally appeared on Eurasianet here.
Register here to continue reading this article and 5 more for free or purchase 12 months full website access including the bne Magazine for just $250/year.
Register to read the bne monthly magazine for free:
Already registered
Password could contain only a-z0-9\+*?[^]$(){}=!<>|:-_ characters and have 8-20 symbols length.
Please complete your registration by confirming your email address.
A confirmation email has been sent to the email address you provided.
Forgotten password?
Email field can't be empty.
No user with this email address.
Access recovery request has expired, or you are using the wrong recovery token. Please, try again.
Access recover request has expired. Please, try again.
To continue viewing our content you need to complete the registration process.
Please look for an email that was sent to with the subject line "Confirmation bne IntelliNews access". This email will have instructions on how to complete registration process. Please check in your "Junk" folder in case this communication was misdirected in your email system.
If you have any questions please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
Sorry, but you have used all your free articles fro this month for bne IntelliNews. Subscribe to continue reading for only $119 per year.
Your subscription includes:
For the meantime we are also offering a free subscription to bne's digital weekly newspaper to subscribers to the online package.
Click here for more subscription options, including to the print version of our flagship monthly magazine:
More subscription options
Take a trial to our premium daily news service aimed at professional investors that covers the 30 countries of emerging Europe:
Get IntelliNews PRO
For any other enquiries about our products or corporate discounts please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
If you no longer wish to receive our emails, unsubscribe here.
Magazine annual electronic subscription
Magazine annual print subscription
Website & Archive annual subscription
Combined package: web access & magazine print annual subscription