Iran and Central Asia: Chances or Challenges?

Abstract

The fall of Soviet Union and independence of republics of central Asia as well as South Caucasus have brought both chances and challenges for Iran. At first it seemed that Muslim republics, which broke from Soviet Union, might have brought great chances for Iran to promote her ideological claims and economic interests. Dreams of Islamic revolution in new independent central Asian republics invoked Iran, so much that it worried USA. In this article it is argued that Iran's challenge outweighs its chances.