Herat; the battlefield of Tehran and Riyadh
By: Milad Farvash
Translated By: Salam Watandar
Herat is so far away from the capital, Kabul, that it is sometimes forgotten. This oblivion is more political and extends the sphere of influence of the central government. Although culturally, socially and, to some extent economically, this province does not need the relationship with the central government because its big brother is beside it; Iran.
It is not surprising. In a time when Britishers had not mapped countries, Herat was the third most important Persian city after Shiraz and Isfahan, perhaps even more important than Balkh. Since Herat is very close to Iran in terms of culture, and because it is heavily dependent on the country in terms of its economic and social status, and almost half of the urban population of this province is also Shiite. Iran has got Herat under its influence, from books to the various types of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The withdrawal of Americans has opened up space for the region's powers. In the north Russia, in southeast Pakistan, at the center India, and in west Iran. But in the west of the country, at least in the last ten years, Iran has not been the only contender; Saudi Arabia has succeeded in expanding its sphere of influence among the Sunni people, which has flared up a silent war between Tehran and Riyadh in Herat. But, this war differs greatly from the Indian-Pakistani proxy war in the center, south, and east of the country because it is more than a military and political war, it is more of a cultural and social one.
To the extent that Iran has penetrated the Herat Shiite, Saudis have managed to win a large part of the people of the city and villages at least with Wahabism. Perhaps at no time, the Sunnis hated more the Shiites- with Shiites at higher strata in the province. On the other hand, Shiites have never been so pessimistic to their Sunni cohabitants.
Saudi Arabia has paid for tens of religious schools in the city and other parts of Herat, and this giant magic lamp fulfills whatever the Sunnis of Herat wish for. In this playground, the Islamic Republic of Iran has also not been idle. Iran owns dozens of schools and cultural foundation in Herat. Add the media wars, to the situation as well. Apart from a number of commercial TV stations, other satellite and cable TV channels are either owned by Iran or Saudi Arabia.
The biggest confrontation between the Shiites and Sunnis in Herat on Ashura (10th of Muharram) in 2005 showed that it is not possible to use differences and drag them to a sectarian war. For this reason, both Iran and Saudi Arabia changed their way of war, and in their opinion, the war of "Pen" was launched. A wide network of Ayatollahs and Mullahs turned the Friday sermons into battle trenches, invoking the feelings of the youths. Some of these Ayatollahs are now based in Qom and Najaf, and a number of Mullahs have also gone to Riyadh and Jeddah to study theology.
In previous years, in Herat, some Mullahs earned a name for criticizing Shiites. Saudi Arabia has provided them all with the possibility of continuing education. A number of Mullahs who have been preaching violence against the Shiites, are guests from Hejaz. In Herat, they gather a lot of young people and every Friday they give provocative speeches against Shiites or at least Shiasm. As if the Shiites are responsible for all the misery, poverty and the troubles of Afghanistan. These sermons received several attacks from the Iranian Consulate in Herat. One of the recent incidents involved the Mullahs provoking people against Iranian funded, Tawhid School. The Afghan Robotics team, who won a medal in U.S., comes from the Tawhid School.
The Iran haters in Herat are cooperating with the Saudi international media, especially the Wisal-e Haq, Network. This network is very popular among the young people of Herat, and Sunni youth are even active in the production, directing and execution of the programs of this Network in Herat. The activities of the Network set against the Shiites caused the Herat Information and Culture Director to give instructions to all cable networks to suspend broadcasting of the Network. Following the announcement against the broadcasting of Saudi media, the Herat’s Information and Culture Director was dubbed as “Iran’s puppet”.
In turn, Iran, along with the so-called benevolent activities of the Imam Khomeini Foundation in Herat, keeps the Shiite Imams in its payroll and gives privileges of visa and cash to Sunni influential persons of the province. These persons use the perks given by Iran, for their personal gain.
The recruitment of fighters by Iran is another issue. Youths who are fighting in Syria in favor of Assad, supported by Iran, are our own Heratis. Every day, a number of Shiite youth in Herat go to Syria to fight Assad's enemies. Therefore, it is not difficult to answer the question of why ISIS targets Shiite mosques in Herat.
Morally, every day, Shiites of Herat become more fundamental and more loyal to Hezbollah than yesterday. On the other hand, Wahhabism has also become very widespread among the Sunnis. A few years ago, an absurd movement was stirred up among the youth of this group; their job was to vandalize women's beauty salons at night and paint on the glasses and pictures and posters of the parlors.
The last point is that the citizens of Herat are well aware of which countries are hidden behind the assassinations of the influential, political and social figures of Herat. However, it should still be reiterated that the more the government in Kabul distances itself from Herat, the wider scope of influence and competition of Saudi Arabia and Iran will be.
