Iran’s Afghan balancing act amid regional upheaval

The funeral proceedings of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that stretched over a week amid a spiralling war and significant internal turmoil at the seat of power for Shiism, saw multiple personalities visit Tehran. Almost unnoticed, however, was the presence of delegations from both the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance. The two have been fighting each other, in various iterations, over Afghanistan since the 1990s.