The Council of Ulema claims Tehran 'wants to destroy peace in Tajikistan'

Dushanbe sides with anti-Iranian rhetoric, accusing Tehran of having played a role in the civil war of the 1990s and of supporting militants of the banned Islamic party. Saudi investment in the country.

Dushanbe (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Council of Ulema of the Islamic Center of Tajikistan accuses Tehran of trying to destabilize the country to pursue "its interests and ambitions".

The Muslim scholars’ statement, published yesterday on the official website of the State Committee of Religions and the Regulations of Traditions, Holidays and Customs, accuses Iran of being involved in "bloody events in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and now, with the his numerous provocations, [Tehran] wants to destroy peace in Tajikistan ".

"We are convinced - continues the statement - that Iran, for the success of its interests and ambitions, seeks to create discord, and, once it has achieved its purpose, passes the problem into the hands of the enemies of Islam and Muslims" .

The religious leaders refer in particular to the claim Tehran played an important role in the civil war that devastated Tajikistan in the 1990s. They also claim it is financing the Islamic Renaissance party in Tajikistan (Irpt) - banned by the country since 2015 as a "terrorist organization" - and of protecting some of its exiled members, including the leader Muhiddin Kabiri.

The position taken by the Tajiki uljis follows an unusual protest, held on 21 May in front of the Iranian embassy (see photo). About 50 demonstrators waved signs saying "we do not want to relive the events of 1992-2000", and "down Kabiri".

Media sources report that some of the participants were detained and released immediately. The police have not issued statements about who is behind the demonstration. According to some observers, the protest is "fake": there are images of the protest where men dressed in sportswear seem to "direct" the demonstrators.

On May 12th, the same Tajiki president Emomali Rahmon attacked an opposition militant who, during the civil war, had obtained money from a foreign power that "called our so-called friend". Although he never openly named Iran, Rahmon claimed that both the militant and Irpt converted to Shiism. An unusual complaint, if you think that in the past the Tajik president had accused the party of being linked to the Sunni Isis.

It must be said that anti-Iranian rhetoric falls in the context of new investments from other Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia in the front row. A Saudi investment fund recently agreed to secure 51% of a Tajiki bank in difficulty due to a serious lack of liquidity that has lasted since 2015, the Tojiksodirotbank. The institute has a debt with its customers of 102 million dollars.

Saudi Arabia makes no secret of its interest in driving Iran out of Tajikistan. Last September, the Saudi ambassador said in an interview that he was satisfied with the results of his diplomatic engagement, culminating in the "expulsion of Iran and its agents in the country".

• tajikistan
• teheran
• economics
• diplomacy
• irpt
• islamism
• Shiites
• Sunnis