FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2010
As the United States and its allies target the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran is using the forced return of Afghan refugees to leverage its influence in Afghanistan at the expense of U.S. interests. Waves of refugees cause humanitarian crises and are used to shield the movement of foreign terrorists into Afghanistan. In the second in a series of AEI Middle Eastern Outlooks documenting Iran's growing influence in Afghanistan, Ahmad Majidyar and Ali Alfoneh examine how the Iranian government systematically uses either the forced repatriation of Afghans living in Iran, or the false announcement of open borders, to undermine U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and to extract concessions from the Afghan government.
Ali Alfoneh and Ahmad Majidyar are available for interviews and can be contacted directly at ali.alfoneh@aei.org and ahmad.majidyar@aei.org. For additional media inquiries, please contact Sara Huneke at sara.huneke@aei.org (202.862.4870).
AEI's in-house ReadyCam TV studio--for live and taped interviews--can be booked through VideoLink at 617.340.4300. To book AEI's radio booth and ISDN lines, please contact Sara Huneke at sara.huneke@aei.org.
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