Explaining Afghanistan's national security with respect to the US-Iran conflict (2001-2021)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• seid ahmad fateminejad ¹
• seyed mojtaba alawi ²

¹ Seyed Ahmad Fatemi Nejad

² Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

https://doi.org/10.22067/irlip.2022.72753.1162

Abstract

The 20-year period of US presence in Afghanistan after 2001 was one of the periods in which conflict and insecurity continued to prevail in Afghanistan. Various factors can be mentioned for this insecurity, one of which has been the competition of foreign actors in Afghanistan.The present study seeks to answer the question of what consequences the US-Iranian rivalry and conflict have had for Afghanistan's national security?The research hypothesis is that the US-Iran conflict in Afghanistan has weakened Afghanistan's national security by increasing the armed conflict, weakening the Afghan government , and reducing the growth of trade relations between Iran and Afghanistan.To test the hypothesis, the theoretical framework of national security and explanatory method have been used. In this regard, on the one hand, some regional and international issues in dispute between the two countries and on the other hand, some differences between them regarding Afghanistan, have provided the ground for competition and conflict between them in Afghanistan.Therefore, the policy of the two countries towards Afghanistan has a completely security basis and the pursuit of the parties to ensure their national interests has led them to act against each other's interests in Afghanistan.The findings show that these measures have implications for Afghanistan's national security in military, political and economic dimensions.

Keywords

• "national security'
• "Afghanistan"
• "competition"
• "conflict"