Tajik-Iran ties may improve but without old closeness

Significance

Relations are recovering rapidly from three years of estrangement, though so far there is little economic substance to the friendlier atmospherics. Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin's trip to Tehran is the largest step yet.

Impacts

• The Tajik domestic issues that prompted the row have not gone away.
• A thaw with Iran will not worry Moscow, Tajikistan's key partner.
• Uzbekistan's shift to constructive foreign policies may prod Tajikistan to do the same.