The Sources of Tensions and Threats in Iran and Turkmenistan Borders and their Effects on Internal Security and Geopolitical Relations between the Two Countries

Islamic Republic of Iran has common long land and water borders with Turkmenistan. Hence, we can say that the border areas with neighboring countries in the north, i.e., Turkmenistan have several various challenges. Sources of tensions include ethnic geographical stretches with Turkmen in Turkmen Plain, Turkmenistan’s strong need to the rivers incoming from Iranian lands, the geopolitical interests of the two countries particularly in the area of the crossing, the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and border functionalities. But the internal challenges of Turkmenistan and Central Asia and the probability of spreading regional tensions, the presence of the U.S. and Israel in Turkmenistan, Turkmenistan of secular political system type and the way of dealing with Muslim fundamentalists, will affect the relations between two countries. Nevertheless, national and internal security, and border margins on the one hand affect bilateral or multilateral sources of tension with neighboring countries and on the other hand Iran’s strategic environment including its national security is exposed to multiple external geopolitical domains. However, because Iran’s territorial space is a complement to the geopolitical strategy of Turkmenistan, it plays an important role in the absorption and persistence of insecurity itself. Now, this question is raised: regarding the existence of multiple sources of tensions and threats in the borders of Iran and Turkmenistan and the effects of these tensions and threats on the countries’ internal security, how will the future of relations between Iran and Turkmenistan be? In this paper, using documentary analysis and library studies of existing data, an attempt is made to answer the above-raised question. After investigations and analyses of the existing data we came to this conclusion Iran and Turkmenistan relations will face crises in the future duo to some problems that were referred to in the text.