Touraj Atabaki, a senior research fellow at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, says Dushanbe's fresh claims should be seen against a “background of existing lack of trust,” according to Radio Liberty.
“In its regional policies, Iran — alongside warm relations with governments — also tries to maintain relations with those governments' major opponents,” Atabaki was quoted as saying by RFE/RL.
At the heart of the latest tension between Tajikistan and Iran is alleged Iranian support for the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), which was banned and branded a terrorist group in 2015.
“Tajikistan suspects that Iran somewhat threatens the government of President [Emomali] Rahmon by actions that are not acceptable and appropriate in relations between two countries,” Atabaki says.
Shokirjon Hakimov, a Tajik politician and analyst, traces tensions between Dushanbe and Tehran back to around the time of the arrest of a well-known Iranian billionaire in 2013.
“Relations between Tajikistan and Iran began to sour after the arrest of Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman who had invested in Tajikistan, who was later sentenced to death in Iran,” Hakimov told RFE/RL.
Zanjani was said to have been helping Iran sell oil during a period of international sanctions, but he was later accused of withholding billions of dollars in profits. An Iranian court sentenced him to death on corruption charges in 2016.
Radio Liberty reports that during his trial in Tehran, Zanjani, whose wealth was once estimated at around $13.5 billion, claimed that he had transferred some $2 billion to Tajikistan's National Bank. Local reports reportedly cited Iranian suspicions that Zanjani had used Tajikistan to move money out of Iran.
Tajik authorities have dismissed those claims and distanced themselves from Zanjani, whose financial empire in Tajikistan included a bank, an airline, and a bus terminal inaugurated by President Rahmon himself.
