The story: Iran has reportedly moved additional military forces to its border with Afghanistan amid rising tensions with the Taliban. Iranian officials say border guards have acted with “restraint” in the face of alleged provocative actions by Taliban forces. While both sides appear to seek to avoid further escalation, some Iranian outlets say Tehran’s accommodationist approach to the new government in Kabul is a mistake.

The coverage: The conservative Fars News Agency reported on Apr. 23 that the Islam Qala-Dogharoon border crossing, located in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, would temporarily close.

• Fars cited a source in Herat province as saying the border crossing was closed after Taliban forces sought to build a road near the area and were met with opposition from Iranian border guards.
  
  
• Fars added, “Experts believe that America, after it was forced to leave Afghanistan, seeks to create a rift between Iran and Afghanistan on the one hand and create ethnic and religious divisions.”
  
  
• Taliban-affiliated outlets said tensions arose after a vehicle carrying five Iranian military personnel entered Afghan territory.

The centrist Iranian Khabar Online outlet tweeted a video on Apr. 25 which it said showed the Iranian Army’s 88th armored division being deployed to the Afghan border.

• Iranian journalist Mohammad Sayyah tweeted that “the Taliban are stationed one kilometer away from the Iranian border and have threatened a military attack.” He added that the alleged “Taliban threat” must be “answered correctly.”
  
  
• However, Nour News, affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Apr. 27 that videos allegedly showing Iranian military forces moving to the “eastern border” were “false” and that the situation at the Afghanistan border is “normal.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Apr. 25 that Iranian border guards have until now acted with “restraint.”

• Khatibzadeh said this was because of the “domestic situation in Afghanistan” and the “unfamiliarity” of Taliban forces with border protocols.
  
  
• The foreign ministry spokesperson added that the continuation of the current situation is “concerning” and said Iran is prepared to give Taliban border guards “training.”

Meanwhile, Hassan Mortazavi, deputy chief of Iran’s embassy in Kabul, met with a Taliban military official on Apr. 26.

• Iranian outlets posted pictures of the meeting and reported that an agreement was reached to reopen the Islam Qala-Dogharoon border crossing.
  
  
• A Taliban statement said tensions between the “two Islamic neighbors is to the benefit of the enemy” and that current “differences can be resolved through negotiations.”

The moderate Islamic Republic newspaper said in an Apr. 19 column that the Taliban are “deceptive” and some in Iran have been “fooled” by the group.

• The paper asserted that the “culprit” for rising Iran-Afghanistan tensions is the “terrorist Taliban group” and criticized Iranian policymakers who seek to engage the new government in Kabul.

The context/analysis: Iran began diplomatically engaging the Taliban during the intra-Afghan peace talks that were underway before the fall of the government of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani (2014-21).

• Iran and the Taliban have historically had hostile relations. The two sides almost went to war in 1999 after Taliban fighters killed ten Iranian diplomats during their capture of the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif under their prior 1996-2001 rule.
  
  
• But since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August following the US withdrawal, Iran has engaged the group while calling for the formation of an “inclusive” government in Kabul.
  
  
• Many Iranians echo the view of the Islamic Republic newspaper that it is a mistake for Iran to cooperate with the Taliban.

Over the past eight months, multiple incidents have tested the ability of both sides to maintain constructive relations.

• In addition to repeated tensions at the border, three Shiite clerics were on Apr. 5 notably stabbed at a shrine in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. The detained culprit is alleged to be an Afghan Salafist extremist.
  
  
• Separately, demonstrations outside of Iran’s Herat consulate over allegations of the mistreatment of Afghan migrants at the hands of locals and police forces recently turned violent.
  

Significantly, both sides continue to express a desire to avoid escalation. To this end, Brig. Gen. Kioumars Heydari, the commander of the Iranian Army’s ground forces, said on Apr. 15 that Iran’s military presence at the Afghan border is not because there is a “threat” but to maintain “information dominance” and “readiness.”

The future: The recent border flareup signals the fragility of Iran-Taliban ties. Pragmatists on both sides particularly risk losing control of the situation if a future incident leads to fatalities.

• On the other hand, Iran’s offer to train Taliban border guards could improve relations, if accepted.
  
  
• If reports that Iran has moved additional military forces to the border are accurate, it is a sign that Tehran’s calculations are changing. As distrust between the two sides grows, Iran may increasingly be concerned about potential Taliban aggression.