Taliban’s Return in Afghanistan Poses a Balancing Act for Iran

Given the history between the two countries, Iran would have preferred a political settlement in Afghanistan that didn’t leave the Taliban as the sole rulers. Iranian officials had called for a responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops, rather than the swift exit they have demanded in Iraq, said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an expert on Afghan-Iranian relations with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank. “They fear developments similar to the 1990s,” Ms. Tabrizi said. “There could be a confrontation between the two"