Dalia Ziada

Sooner or later, the new Taliban will follow the steps of their ancestors by threatening the security of other countries in the east and the west

It did not take long for Taliban to show their ugly face, proving wrong those who were optimistic about their rule wrong.

On Wednesday, Taliban leaders gathered directors of schools and local community leaders to inform them that women are no longer allowed to attend or work at schools and universities. The decision of the extremist group is the last item on a long list of similar decisions targeting to bury women and girls alive under the claim of preventing “the female vice from corrupting the society”. Banning women from participating in public life is at the core of the extremist ideology adopted by Islamist extremist organizations, including Taliban.

In response to this appalling move, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayib, issued a statement harshly condemning the discrimination against women by Taliban. “Preventing the Afghan girls from university-level education is a shocking procedure that contradicts Islamic Shariah”, El-Tayib stated. “Shariah explicitly urges men and women to continue to seek education from cradle to grave. Several women have proven their scientific and political genius over the long history of Islam. Women’s education should be a source of pride and admiration for every Muslim devoted to Allah, His Messenger, and His Shariah”.

Taliban took power in August 2021, following a hasty and chaotic withdrawal of the United States and allied forces from Afghanistan, followed by an inevitable surrender of the army and the government to Taliban. At the beginning of their shockingly effortless ascendence to power, the extremist group’s spokesperson told the media that they would not practice discrimination against women like their founding fathers did in the 1990s and 2000s. They even claimed that the new Taliban is more “open-minded” and urged the world to wait and see.

Some western politicians and observers echoed Taliban’s false claims, perhaps out of ignorance. Even the U.S. Administration of President Biden urged the international community to give Taliban a chance, under the claim that “the new Taliban is different from the old Taliban” and that Taliban rule is what the Afghan people want. The hundreds of thousands of Afghanis who fled the country since Taliban took power a year ago are proof of the falseness of these relaxed claims.

Among all the shocking statements made by world leaders, such as the European Union and UNICEF, about their optimism toward Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, one particular statement stood out. In an interview with Sky News TV, a few days following the U.S. and allied forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Chief of Staff of the British Army, Nick Carter, described Taliban fighters as “country boys” that the world needs to be patient on and give them a chance to prove that they are “more reasonable” than the old Taliban.

Forcing women to cover from head to toe, stoning women in public, and preventing women from participating in public life through work or education were daily practices under the rule of the former Taliban. Sadly, the current Taliban is gradually heading in that direction by first banning women from working at certain occupations, now preventing women from education, and very soon preventing women from going to markets or appearing in public.

Taliban’s unapologetic discrimination against women is proving wrong the claims of officials and media personnel who were so optimistic that the existing Taliban is different from the former Taliban, which appeared in the 1990s and turned Afghanistan into a haven for Al-Qaeda, one of the most dangerous Islamist terrorist organizations knows in history. Sooner or later, the new Taliban will follow the steps of their ancestors by threatening the security of other countries in the east and the west. It all starts by suppressing women under the silent and passive watch of the free world. 

Article first published on Sada ElBalad.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Members of the pro-Salafi organization Ashaab-Ul-Yameen — ‘People of the Right-Side’ invited the scholars and preachers from the Ahle-Hadees school-of-thought to address the dangers and threats of the extremist organizations who exploit the emotionally charged-up youth for their ulterior agenda.

For the first time in the city, the scholars at the ‘Ashaab-Ul-Yameen Conference-2’ were very vocal and upfront to publicly mention the names of the radical groups who work under the pretention of Islamic awakening.

Shaykh Hussain Madani, vice president of the Telangana’s Jamiat Ahle-Hadees, congratulated the organizers of the conference and said, “Conferences like these should be held at the national and international levels in order to present the true understanding of Islam”.

Shaykh Hussain recalled his treatise, which he wrote in 2014 against ISIS, in Urdu and English, to expose the dangers of the terrorist organization. It was a peak time when the majority of the Muslims were sympathizing the organization for its so-called ‘Jihad’ against the west.

Shaykh Hussain said that being nationalistic and loving one’s nation is part of the innate human nature. He quoted traditional Muslim scholar Ibn Hajar to support his claim.

He said, “the love of nation made the Indian freedom fighters like Moulana Azad to oppose the partition of India and Pakistan”.

Shaykh Abdus-Salam Madani, vice president of the Chennai’s Jamiat Ahle-Hadees, spoke about the fraud and exploitation of the caliphate ‘Khilafah’ calls.

He said, “It’s day-dreaming and ignorance to think that all the current issues of the Muslims will disappear overnight by the arrival of caliphate”.

Shaykh Abdus-Salam warned against the Khomeini-influenced extremist organization Jamat-e-Islami, who doesn’t consider the fundamental and spiritual aspects of Islam as essential, who urge the youth to run after the so-called caliphate.

He held the Muslim-Brotherhood ideology responsible for the destruction of Syria, Libya and other parts of Middle-East.

“The proper methodology of Islam is to connect with the Rulers and the governments and advise them, instead of uprisings and protests to dethrone them and occupy their seats. Prophets never came to grab the governments; rather they came to call people to God’s path”, he added.

Shaykh Wajid Hasan, vice president of the Hyderabad’s Jamiat Ahle-Hadees, spoke about the life and teachings of the 18th century revivalist Imam Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab, and his alliance with Imam Mohammed Bin Saud to establish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He explained that the reason to choose the topic was to clear the cobwebs about the term ‘Wahabi’, which is often seen as a synonym to terrorism.

Shaykh Wajid said that most people confuse the African Wahabi-cult started by Abdulwahab Bin Abdurrahman Al-Rustam with the pristine movement of Imam Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab of Saudi Arabia. Rustam’s Khawarij-cult was all about bloodshed and terrorism, while Imam Bin Abdulwahab’s teachings are otherwise.

He said, the term ‘Wahabi’ was deliberately coined by Ottoman Turks to defame the movement of the revivalist, at a time when they were losing grip over the two holy cities of Makkah and Madina.

Shaykh Wajid praised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the peace and stability it holds in the Middle-East region, while he attributed the success graph of the kingdom to the foundations laid by Imam Mohammed Bin Saud.

Shaykh Dr. Ajmal Manzoor Madani, lecturer at Mumbai’s Jamia-ut-Tawheed institute, spoke about the qualities and patterns of Khawarij terrorists, while exposing the double-standards of Islamist preachers like Yusuf Qardawi, Hasan Banna, Syed Qutb and Abul-Ala Maududi.

He said, “Muslims have always suffered due to the actions of Khawarij groups. Their emergence took place after Prophet Mohammed’s death, during the battles of Siffin and Nahrawan. And today, they brought destruction in Syria and Libya”.

Dr. Madani added, “Our youth work with emotions, not with their intellect, and due to this, they are hasty in calling Muslims as Kaafir, and waging war against them”.

He said that, youth are mostly oblivious to the Islamic Shariah, that’s the reason they resort to suicide bombing and bloodshed.

While exposing the double-standards of Islamist preachers, he said, “Look at the lifestyle of Qardawi, Banna, Qutb and Maududi. Their children are well-settled in the western countries, while they exploit your children for their goals”.

Director of IPlus TV, Shaykh Kifayatullah Sanabili explained how modern-day youth get misguided due to their abandoning of traditional scholars, and picking up the tools of self-study.

Shaykh Sanabili said that, correct and sound understanding of Islam comes through methodology of Prophet and his companions, while misguidance comes through self-amazement.

Eventually, Delhi-based Shaykh Mohammed Rehmani, president of Jamia Islamia Sanabil, warned against the self-professed preachers and callers of Islam.

Shaykh Rehmani said, “Islam is learnt while sitting at the doorsteps of real scholars, not through YouTube and social media celebrities. Unfortunately, today, we gauge a person’s knowledge of Islam based on the hits and views he gets on the YouTube videos, and this is a problematic situation”.

Shaykh Rehmani urged the Muslims to obey the law of the land, and never rebel against the establishment. He also asked them to stay away from the radical groups that promote the anti-state sentiments.

During a QA session, Shaykh Rehmani was asked about the extremist Islamist organization, Popular Front of India (PFI). Upon which, he expounded PFI’s affair, and called a spade a spade in terming the organization as an extremist cult that derives it methodology from the global Muslim Brotherhood’s militant outfit ‘Hamas’.

He quoted PFI’s chairman and said, “PFI follows Hamas model, not the Tablighi or Salafi model. Which indeed is a threat to the society”.

Shaykh Rehmani said that PFI works under different banners like Indian Fraternity Forum (IFF) and Indian Social Forum (ISF) in the Middle-East, while they have 16 different shades throughout India.

He urged the Ahle-Hadees followers and their chiefs to safeguard themselves against the PFI’s infiltration, and to warn against the influence of Muslim Brotherhood’s splinter groups like Jamat-e-Islami.

Further, Shaykh Rehmani awarded a memento to the organizers, and appreciated their efforts. Imam Khaled Basheer Mohammedi delivered the vote of thanks.

Around 900-1000 audiences showed up at the conference.

Milli Chronicle Media England, Ezal Magazine Saudi Arabia, Miftah Educational and Welfare Society, Azwa-Us-Salaf Educational and Welfare Society, and Ashaabul-Yameen Team sponsored the conference.

Only when the defendant/ has been found guilty by all three courts is the sentence carried out

Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it had executed 81 men. Here are the details about who they were and what they did.

But before we get into that, we need to understand a little background about the legal process in Saudi Arabia. 

There are several stages to the process starting with the Criminal Court. When someone is found guilty of a capital crime in that court, the case then moves to the Appellate Court. If they are still found guilty, the case moves to the Supreme Court.

If either the Appellate Court or the Supreme Court finds the defendant/s not guilty, the case goes back to the Criminal Court for a retrial. Only when the defendant/ has been found guilty by all three courts is the sentence carried out.

Now, what have all three courts found the different defendants guilty of:

Talal Mohammed Al-Faisal is a Saudi-based thinker. He writes and tweets about Business and Politics. He tweets under @tmafaisal.

Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Abdullateef Aal-Sheikh directed the preachers of the mosques in which Friday prayers are held, to dedicate the coming Friday sermon that is December 10, to warn against the Tablighi and Dawah group.

Ministry tweeted in Arabic, “His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. ⁧‫Abdullateef Al-Sheikh‬⁩, the preachers of mosques in which Friday prayers are held, are instructed to dedicate the next Friday sermon 6/5/1443 AH to warn against (the Tablighi and Da’wah group)”.

The preachers are directed to talk about four major points about the group:

1. Explanation of the misguidance, deviation and danger of this group, and that it is one of the gates of terrorism, even if they claim otherwise.
2. Mention their most prominent mistakes.
3. Mention their danger to society.
4. A statement that affiliation with partisan groups, including (the Tablighi and Dawah Group) is prohibited in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Tablighi Jamaat is an orthodox missionary movement started in India in 1926 during the British-era. It urges fellow Muslims to follow the religion particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behaviour.

The group is estimated to have between 350 to 400 million adherents worldwide. It claims to strictly avoid political activities and debates, and instead focuses on religion only.

The U.S. Government has closely monitored Tablighi Jamaat since September 2001. According to US officials, though the group do not have a direct link with terrorism, the teachings and beliefs of Tablighi Jamaat have been a starting point for pushing their members to join the radical Muslim organizations.

According to Pakistani security analysts and Indian intelligence, the founders of terrorist group Harkatul-Mujahideen were members of the Tablighi Jamaat. The intelligence estimates that over 6,000 Tablighi adherents were trained in Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorist camps in Pakistan.

A counter-terrorism operation in Russia in February 2020, led to the arrest of seven Tablighi members and dismantled the terrorist cell affiliated to the Tablighi Jamaat. Russian intelligence said that, the terrorist cell was involved in radicalization.

According to independent political analyst Shireen Khan Burki, the Tablighi Jamaat is “a conduit and a fertile recruiting ground for jihadi organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-i-Taiba”.

Guests

1 – Irina Tsukerman. She is a New York-based Human Rights Lawyer and National Security Analyst. She is also a Media and Security consultant. Irina writes and speaks on human rights voilations of the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen. She extensively speaks on Iranian mullah regime’s catasrophic agenda in the MiddleEast.

2 – Sharon Collins. She is a Florida-based Independent Political Analyst and Researcher, mainly focused on Middle East Affairs. She also visited Saudi Arabia and stayed in the Kingdom.

3 – Rabbi Enchanan Poupko. He is a New York-based Jewish Rabbi or Scholar. He is also a TEDx speaker. He participates in interfaith discussions to bride gap between the Muslims and Jews.

4 – Mohammed Abbasi. He is a London-based coach, speaker and writer. He is director of Association of British Muslims. He works for Football for Peace. He is a great fan of Sun Tzu, and in fact he teaches the art of war.

Moderator

Zahack is a Saudi-based Non Resident Indian (NRI). He founded The Milli Chronicle in September 2018, which mainly focuses on MENA affairs. Zahack has been working on a non-commercial basis to publish the works of notable researchers and Think-Tank groups.

YouTube Link.

The webinar focused on some of the key-points such as: Abraham Accords, Israel-Pakistan relations, the rise of Islamism in Middle-East, the latest reforms taking place under Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the constant attacks Saudi Arabia has to face from the western media, etc.

The live video had technical issue from 3:40 – 4:20. Please use the YouTube link as a substitute.

Guests

1 – Lt. Col. Anthony (Tony) Shaffer. He is a Senior Fellow and President of the London Center for Policy Research, and he served as Defense Intelligence Officer for 28 years. He was also Advisory Board Member of Trump2020 campaign. Lt. Col. Shaffer has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and other major TV and radio programs, and has been interviewed by The New York Times and other publications on pre-9/11 operations focused on Al Qaeda. He is the author of Operation Dark Heart, and the novel The Last Line.

2 – Ahmed Quraishi, who is a journalist, commentator, and author, with presence in the media of the Middle East and Pakistan. He covered the Afghanistan war for Aljazeera (Arabic), and was embedded with U.S. military in Iraq. He has hosted foreign policy related television talk shows. He covered events in Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Mr. Quraishi has participated in academic exercises involving Pakistani and American militaries (2006); joined in a Sino-Pakistani academic exchange in Beijing (2005); and sat in closed-door academic discussions organized in Kuwait City by U.S. and Gulf institutions on strategies for post-Saddam Iraq (in 2000, before the war).

3 – Dalia Ziada, who is an Egyptian author/writer, and award-winning blogger. She is the author of “The Curious Case of the Three-Legged Wolf – Egypt: Military, Islamism, and Liberal Democracy”. She currently works as the Director of the Liberal Democracy Institute, a think tank advising policymakers in Egypt and the Middle East. Dalia’s story and struggle for liberal democratization in Egypt is profiled in American best-selling books such as: Robin Wright’s “Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World”. Ziada worked as the Executive Director of Ibn Khaldun Center for Democratic Studies; and regional director for The American Islamic Congress. Currently, she leads the Liberal Democracy Institute. In addition, Ziada is a board member of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the National Council for Women in Egypt.

4 – Khaled Homoud Alshareef, who is a Saudi political analyst. Khaled holds PhD in Business and he earned Masters in Philosophy. He often writes about Islamism, Islamist factions and modern Terrorism.

5 – Mohammed Abbasi, who is Director of Association of British Muslims. He worked as a peace activist and conflict resolution specialist. He is part of Football for Peace Global, and he advises sports for peace organizations internationally. He has met Prime Ministers and Presidents including British, Pakistani and Indonesian. Abbasi also speaks on military strategy such as the Chinese Art of War which is used by many military academies around the world and also speaks on mind mapping, memory skills and coaches on meditation and mindfulness.

Moderator

The webinar was moderated by Zahack Tanvir, who is a Saudi-based Non Resident Indian (NRI). He is professionally an ERP Consultant. He also holds Diploma in Journalism from London School of Journalism. Tanvir founded The Milli Chronicle in September 2018, and he’s been working on a non-commercial basis to publish the works of notable researchers and Think-Tank groups, mainly focused on exposing the Islamist and other extremist factions.

President Hadi called for military support, after he was ousted by the Houthi movement, and fled to Saudi Arabia…

This one is a little different, it hits close to home in many different ways, the Yemeni Civil War is a unique phenomenon in modern warfare, the majority of people don’t even know what’s really going on, and who’s fighting who.

The Combatants

• Iranian backed Supreme Political Council (Houthis).
• Internationally Recognized Government (Hadi-led government).
• South Yemen Nationalists Southern Transitional Council.
• The (allegedly Turkish and Qatari backed) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Yemen Province (ISIL-YP).
• The (allegedly Iranian and Qatari backed) Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The so-called Supreme political council of Yemen, is a mish-mash of bad guys and misfits. Iran supplies the Houthis with arms, drones and ballistic missiles, and Hezbollah delivers these arms through shell corporations, and Hezbollah operators man the missiles.

A UN report said, North Korea cooperating militarily with Syria and has been trying to sell weapons to Yemen’s Houthis.

On the other hand Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia terrorist groups, that have been in war with Saudi Arabia since the mid 90s with support from Iran and Qatar also known as Al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula are portrayed, as Saudi and Emarati allies by mainstream media.

The Cabinet of Yemen, refers to the governing body of the internationally recognized Yemen government led by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi who replaced Ali Abdullah Saleh on February 25, 2012 as the new President. He then selected new cabinet members of the Yemeni Government.

The Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, is an intervention launched by Saudi Arabia on 26th March 2015, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, in response to calls from the legitimate president of Yemen, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

President Hadi called for military support, after he was ousted by the Houthi movement, and fled to Saudi Arabia.

The narrative of the coverage

Civil wars have plagued the nation for years. In 2011, when the so called Arab Spring shook the Arabian world, Yemenis protested for “democracy”. That’s what the main stream media told you, right? Well, the truth is a bit more complicated.

The “protestors” successfully toppled the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had ruled the country for 33 years. He was forced to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Under Hadi, who ran uncontested in 2012, reforms were slow and corruption and food insecurity were not going away as fast as expected, The Houthi rebels, used that to gain greater political representation. When they failed to do so politically they resorted to violence.

In 2014, they aligned with Saleh and took control of the capital city of Sanaa. Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia in early 2015. A fight for power between tribal and government factions within Yemen escalated in March of that year and became threatening to the security of the region.

The continued failures to resolve the conflict peacefully forced the hand of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, that ended up intervening with air strikes to fight the military campaign of Iran-Backed Houthis that swallowed most of the country.

Porcelain mask is cracked: The Yemen media war, and the massive propaganda machine

Some in the main stream media will tell you, that the murder of the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi sparked the massive coverage campaign that covered the war in Yemen. I would be more honest, and say that it was a campaign aimed at the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Three-years before the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, mourners were attending the funeral of journalist Abdul Kareem al-Khaiwani in Sanaa, March 24, 2015. Assassins on a motorbike shot dead Khaiwani in broad day light.

The war in Yemen in general has negatively impacted media at many levels. In 2016, in a televised speech, the leader of Houthi rebels, Abdelmalek al-Houthi, warned, “The media workers are more dangerous to our country than the nationalist and warring mercenaries”.

Let’s be honest, the hostility of militant groups toward the media is not limited to the Houthis. Yes it maybe as extreme as the Iranian backed militias but it can’t be ignored, adding to the problem is the targeting of journalists by Al-Qaida and Islamic State of Iraq and Levant – Yemen Province (ISIL-YP).

This hostility hinders the media’s ability to deliver news and stories about Yemen’s civil war, leaving Yemeni and international news audiences ignorant, dependent on politically motivated media groups who are active in the conflict areas, most of which fall prey to corruption of war.

Yemen’s media suffered a decline and retreated as it comes under increased pressure during the ongoing conflict. It also got plagued with hiring, based on ideology affiliated with the Houthis, moreover, nepotism of militia members was high as they started handing over press jobs to their relatives.

Controlling the local and international narrative is crucial for the Houthis. When Houthi forces took over Sanaa in 2014, they shelled the Yemen state TV station, and soon after they replaced media professionals with Houthi-affiliated media groups.

While this was happening in Houthi-controlled areas, newspapers and broadcasts in the north and south were suspended, such as the formerly state-owned Al-Thawra and 14October newspapers.

Instead, the Houthis captured Al-Thawra and turned it into a pro-Houthi outlet circulated only in the north Yemen.

Yemen’s Internet provider, Yemennet blocked many anti-Houthi websites, and the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Information accused media outlets of “inciting treason”. Controlling the media became even more prevalent in 2015 after the coalition started their air campaign.

The deadliest violation against press in Yemen, was the death of two Yemeni journalists who reportedly were used as human shields by Houthi forces to protect a military installation.

In another instance, blogger and investigative journalist Mohammed al-Absi, known for reporting on a number of Houthi-related-corruption stories, and withholding of food and medicine and creating a food and medical crisis, was poisoned by the Houthis.

Yemen is one of the most dangerous places to work as a journalist. The Houthis are ranked as the second worst abuser of freedom of press in the world, only the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) surpasses them. Yet, they still control the narrative by corruption and fear.

Khaled Homoud Alshareef holds PhD in Business and he earned Masters in Philosophy. He often writes about Islamism, Islamist factions and modern Terrorism. He tweets under @0khalodi0.

The Fatemiyoun flag was shown alongside ISIS’s flag on Afghan TV…

New comments by Iran’s Foreign Minister has drawn criticism from Afghan analysts about the role the regime’s proxy group will play in the absence of US forces.
Speaking on a local Afghan TV channel, Javad Zarif said the IRGC’s Fatemiyoun Division were “the best forces”.

“If the Afghan government so decides, they can help the Afghan government fight against Daesh,” he said on December 20.

Zarif also defended the creation of the Fatemiyoun Division by the Iranian regime, which is accused of bringing in tens of thousands of Shiite fighters from countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

His comments drew criticism from senior Afghan analysts. Speaking to Arab News, Tabish Forugh, an Afghan scholar based in the US, said Afghanistan should not “risk provoking unnecessary sectarian violence in the country.”

He added that Kabul could not under any circumstances recruit IRGC militias used as mercenaries in the wars of the Middle East.
“We need peace, not overtures for the use of mercenaries,” Shafiq Haqpal, an analyst, said.

“Suggesting such an idea is like adding fuel to a flame that can become a big fire eventually. We do not want Afghanistan to become another Syria or Iraq.”

Despite claims by the regime that the Fatemiyoun are made up of volunteers, a former IRGC official said in February that they received salaries from the regime.

In a video circulating on social media on April 3, Parviz Fattah was seen talking on a show on state-run TV in mid-February about the dead commander of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

Fattah told state run TV that when he was the head of IRGC Cooperative Foundation, Soleimani asked him for money to pay the wages of the Fatemiyoun Brigade.

The Brigade, known also as the Fatemiyoun Division, is a mainly Afghan Shi’a militia formed by the IRGC’s Quds Force in 2014.

According to a Fatemiyoun commander, “More than 80,000 forces in the Fatemiyoun Brigade were deployed to Syria.”

Various sources in the past have said that Iran-backed fighters received around $900 a month.

The regime also lures impoverished Afghan immigrant children into joining the Division.

Many Afghans think of the IRGC’s Fatemiyoun mercenaries as terrorists and traitors.

In the past, the Fatemiyoun flag was shown alongside ISIS’s flag on Afghan TV saying that they equally threatened Afghanistan’s security.

With the planned withdrawal of US forces nearing and the likelihood of the Taliban taking power, the Iranian regime is looking to use the Fatemiyoun Division, dubbed a terrorist group by the US, to gain leverage in Afghanistan.

However, judging by the regime’s unpopularity in regional countries, it is doubtful that it will attain its desired influence.

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator.