Student Name: Asfand Yar Khan

Student ID: 21-10470

Between the early 1950s and 1978, Afghanistan and Iran pursued different strategies vis-à-
vis the Cold War superpowers. What was this difference and what consequence did it have
for each country? Write 1 paragraph. 

As neighbors with a 585-mile border, Iran and Afghanistan have links that have existed for
centuries. Since 1979 - the year of the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- relations between Tehran and Kabul have diminished. One of the first major conflicts in the
Cold War broke out in Azerbaijan, a province in northern Iran. Iran declared neutrality at the
start of the war. It was a place where German ambassadors mingled freely with their Italian
counterparts, recognizing their enemies. While Britain was very far from its relations and its
previous policies towards Iran, the overthrow of Rashid Ali in 1941 and the collapse of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty made the country even more concerned about London's wartime
policy. At its heart was oil in the south of the country, an important military weapon. From the
beginning of the 20th century, Iranian oil was a British company, under the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company (now known as British Petroleum). Although Reza Shah tried to reconsider Iran's
better conditions, its oil in 1941 remained a British resource, however, the Soviet war in
Afghanistan was fought between Afghan rebels called the Mujahideen and the Soviets backed
the Afghan government. The United States supported the Afghan rebels in an attempt to
overthrow the communist government and prevent the spread of communism.