Why sanctions against Iran would discomfit Pakistan

[FarCenter]

By Irfan Husain
Tuesday, December 15, 2009

As the world edges toward tough new sanctions on Iran in a last-ditch attempt to thwart the country’s nuclear ambitions, Pakistan’s security establishment is mulling over its options. The reality is that with a hostile India on its eastern border and a war raging on both sides of its frontier with Afghanistan, the last thing Pakistan needs is an angry Iran to the west. New United Nations sanctions would place an intolerable burden on Pakistan’s relations with Iran.

These ties were recently strained by the Jundullah attack that killed over 40 Iranians, including several high-ranking Revolutionary Guards officers. In the wake of the terrorist atrocity by the extremist Sunni group, Iran accused Pakistan of sheltering the killers at America’s behest and threatened that it would exercise its right of hot pursuit. Pakistan’s consistent support of the Sunni Taliban has been a major irritant between Islamabad and Tehran for years.

Against this backdrop, for Pakistan to support tough new sanctions against Iran would cause the country’s beleaguered army a huge headache. And yet, the reality is that without Pakistan’s active cooperation, any new sanctions would fail. With a long, open border dividing the country, there are already enormous amounts of contraband moving back and forth. Sanctions-busting traders on both sides would profit, and Islamabad would turn a blind eye to the traffic.

One only has to visit Gawadur, Pakistan’s coastal town near the Iranian border, to realize the scale of the smuggling. In the market there, locals can buy everything from frozen chickens to crockery from Iran. Carried on pick-up trucks that drive up and down the flat, hard beach connecting the two countries along the coast, there are virtually no restrictions on this trade placed by either country.

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