The casual visitor could not be blamed for believing Iran’s influence is ascendant in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe. Iranian pop music blasts from many of the city’s cafes. Iranian-made yellow taxis ferry a bevy of fashionable Iranian businessmen around downtown. Market stalls are stacked with Iranian cookies and cakes. And some government buildings are even adorned with signs in three languages: Tajik, Russian, and Persian.
Given the close cultural connection between Tajiks and Iranians, the strong Persian flavor in Dushanbe isn’t so surprising. But on the diplomatic front, there are abundant signs suggesting Tajikistan’s leaders are seeking to distance themselves from Tehran, long the country’s most ardent patron, reported EurasiaNet. Although the change can be attributed to Dushanbe’s fears of Islamic radicalism, it has long been clear that Iranian money is welcome in Dushanbe but the Islamic Republic’s politics are not.
The root source of Tajik officials’ suspicion actually has just as much to do with religion as it does with politics, explained Parviz Mullojanov, an independent analyst in Dushanbe. Tajiks are predominantly Sunni while Iranians are mostly Shiite, Mullojanov pointed out. “There were incidents when students who graduated from Iranian religious schools adopted Shiism, came home and organized some Shiite study groups,” Mullojanov told EurasiaNet. “There is suspicion.”
Officials in Dushanbe appeared determined to stymie the rising influence of Islam in Tajikistan after they struggled last summer to contain Islamic militants operating in the Rasht Valley, east of the capital. In recent months, authorities have closed unregistered mosques, dictated acceptable topics for imams to preach and harassed men with beards.
Alexander Sodiqov, a lecturer in international affairs at the Russian-Tajik Slavonic University in Dushanbe, suggested that Iranian leaders have realistic ambitions when it comes to Tajikistan. “Iranians are very well aware of the limitations in their role and influence in Tajikistan and they appear to accept these limitations,” he said. Nevertheless, observers will be closely watching whether Rahmon gets his Nevruz invitation this year.
