By Dr. Seyed Rasoul Mousavi

Before I write anything else, I want to point out to President Rouhani’s two recent ample actions. First, he spoke to Mohammad Yasna, an Afghan poet and PhD student in Iran who had contracted COVID-19 and later recovered, through a video call at Shahed Sadoghi Yazd hospital. Second, he agreed to hospitalize and treat at, no cost, all foreign nationals who contract coronavirus in Iran. The largest foreign nationals residing in Iran, in one form or another, are Afghan nationals, who are estimated to be around 3 million; and of course will become the main beneficiaries of this policy.

Currently, Afghanistan deals with political anarchy, crippling economy, worsening security and an ineffective healthcare service. From a security standpoint, Afghan security forces and Taliban are fighting a civil war. Although there had been an agreement between the United States and Taliban to reduce violence, welcome intra-Afghan dialogue, and even accept a ceasefire in return for foreign forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan; but understandably, it will be a time consuming process. In addition, ISIL and 20 other terrorist networks are reported to be active in Afghanistan, which directly threaten the country’s security.

From a political point of view, election and post-election crisis still loams bright, which adds to the complexity of already tense political situation. Even though, news circulates regarding a possible agreement between Ashraf Ghani and his main Rival Abdullah Abdullah over sharing power & tasks, leading intra-Afghan dialogue, and forming a government; but still political stability is far from reality. On the other hand, ¾ of Afghanistan’s annual budget (majority of which being security and military expenses) are provided by foreign aids. This exhibits a vast economic dependency; and if cut, it will have severe economic consequences in the short run. It is worth mentioning that the US provides the largest share of this aid. However, recently secretary of state Mike Pompeo threatened to cut $1billion immediately and another $1billion next year. The economic impact of this will be nothing less than a full economic crisis for the country. Since the US has to deal with severe economic consequence of Coronavirus pandemic itself, it needs to direct the money spent on foreign policy to domestic economic crisis. As a result, it is predictable that the US cut their oversea costs under this political pretext, even if Ashraf Ghani accepts all the US conditions to receive the fund again.

From healthcare perspective, there is neither a valid statistic nor possible to collect one. With the outbreak of Coronavirus, healthcare system seems to be in crisis. With the current security, political, economic, and healthcare situation in Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, although they themselves deal with oppressive US economic sanctions, need to help Afghanistan to prepare for a humanitarian-economic crisis in Afghanistan; in which Afghans would inevitably rush toward Iran in large numbers. On a deeper level, it will not only be humanitarian aid, because Iran’s national security is closely tied to Afghanistan’s national security. So, Iran must take its part in solving economic, political, healthcare, and security problem of Afghanistan. The 900 KM Afghan-Iran border is best shown on the maps, but not on the ground; for example, for the past 40 years it became evident that in times of crisis, Afghans (who have no other choice) would cross the border on foot with no consideration for the border on the map.

Coronavirus pandemic is no longer just a national issue; but a regional one; so Iran shouldn’t be misled by the notion that closing the border is the ultimate solution. The healthcare crisis in Afghanistan will have far more devastating impact than any other problems; like economic, security and political crisis, it will exacerbate these. This new wave of crisis, then would be expanded to Iran’s border too. As a result, regional cooperation with Afghanistan and Pakistan is a must.

I started my writing by appreciating president’s action to talk to Mohammad Yasna (Afghan Poet) and conclude it with an excerpt from their talk. Mr. Yasna, in addition to extending gratitude to Shaheed Sadoghi Yazd hospital’s doctors and nurses said “we will come out of this crisis victoriously. In the past, Iran has had its share of challenges too, which have come out victoriously that the international community is proud of. This crisis will also end one day.”

Yes, this crisis will end one day; so we better think of a solution for Yasna’s fellow citizens back in Afghanistan, just the way we hospitalized Yasna in Shaheed Sadoghi yazd hospital; because there seems no other way.

Dr. Seyed Rasoul Mousavi is the Iran's Foreign Minister's Assistant for West Asia. Additionally, he was the General Director of Cultural Relations for the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance; president of Institute of Central Asian and Caucasus Studies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Iran's Ambassador to Finland and Tajikistan.

Academicians and Officials interested to publish their academic pieces on this page, please approach us through: opinions@aiss.af

The article does not reflect the official opinion of the AISS.