Can the "Great Persian Wall" withstand the impending storm in the region — or will it trigger one?

Why is Iran building a grand wall on its eastern border, and who is it guarding against?

Author: Stanislav Tarasov

Iranian Army Commander Major General Keykhosrow Haidari announced during a visit to Sistan and Baluchestan Province that by the end of this year, a 400-kilometer security wall will be built along Iran's eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to the plan, the total length of the eastern border wall will exceed 953 kilometers. This will be a 3.5-meter-high barrier consisting of concrete blocks, steel fences, and watchtowers, and it is also planned to install modern video surveillance systems, motion sensors, and drones for round-the-clock monitoring of the situation. So far, the construction of the wall has cost more than $700 million.

The question is that Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have never considered it necessary to build walls on their common borders before. However, the growing threat of armed organizations inside Afghanistan, as well as the presence of U.S. and allied forces there, have forced Iran to take special defensive measures.

It is worth noting that Iran is not the first country in the region to take such measures, nor is this approach unprecedented in history. One only needs to recall the 2,640-kilometer Durand Line built by Britain along its border with Afghanistan in 1894.

Therefore, when Iran began constructing a concrete wall along its 2,000-kilometer border with Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2007, its reasons were the U.S. and its allies' military presence in Afghanistan, various Islamic militant groups' activities, increased drug smuggling, and illegal immigration.

According to the Center for Statistics data, since March of this year, Iran has received more than 2.7 million registered Afghan refugees, accounting for 97% of the country's legal immigrants.

But all these problems have existed before. Tehran's attention to the project fluctuates with changes in regional political and geopolitical situations.

Thus, the "wall project" has always been seen as an indicator of the overall regional security system's condition in Iran. General Haidari's announcement of restarting the project this time indicates that this "barometer" shows that some kind of storm is approaching.

The recent sudden outbreak and abrupt cessation of armed conflict between India and Pakistan under U.S. intervention reminded Tehran of the armed conflict in the Baluchistan Province with Islamabad in January 2024, despite both sides previously expressing concerns about cross-border terrorism.

Earlier, Iran had faced threats of conflict with the "Taliban" (a banned organization in Russia) that oppressed many ethnic and religious minorities, including the Hazara Shia. Moreover, like Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran could not avoid being drawn into two competing transnational projects — the "transportation corridor" of relevant countries and India's plan to access the Central Asian market, making the situation even more complex.

The landlocked former Soviet republics were once advised to export goods through Iran's Chabahar Port.

India and Iran's attempt to monopolize trade with Central Asia prompted Pakistan to introduce Gwadar Port as an alternative solution. As a result: sharp issues arose in Iran-Pakistan relations. Under specific circumstances, the foundation of confrontation in the region may expand, becoming an ideal cover for U.S. actions. Furthermore, the Donald Trump administration has significantly changed its policy direction toward Iran.

In this context, the wall along Iran's eastern border may not prevent potential adverse events, but at least it can serve as a symbolic warning. Besides, Iran is not the first country to build walls on its borders; at least two typical examples are Turkey and the United States.

Turkey has built a 170-kilometer-long, 3-meter-high concrete wall on its 560-kilometer border with Iran; the United States has also built walls on its border with Mexico.

However, as Tehran claims, whether this is sufficient to deal with "various terrorists supported by global powers" remains to be seen.

Currently, Iran is still testing the positions of Kabul and Islamabad on sovereignty issues, and border disputes remain unresolved, with the regional situation trending toward major changes.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7508928595075547659/

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