Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Iran–Pakistan relations" in English language version.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Iran's relations with Pakistan and India in the mid-20th century were the mirror image of that which exists today. Whereas Tehran now sees New Delhi as a natural partner, it maintained much closer ties with Islamabad throughout most of the Cold War.
The 1979 Iranian Revolution greatly altered the nature of Iran-Pakistan relations, transforming the two countries into rivals rather than partners.
Since then, Pakistan's sectarian tensions have been a major irritant in Iranian-Pakistan relations.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran used Pakistan as a battleground for their proxy war for the 'hearts and minds' of Pakistani Wahhabis and Non muslims with the resultant rise in sectarian tensions in Pakistan. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s further strained Pakistan-Iran relations. Pakistan's support of the Wahhabi Pashtun organization created problems for Shia Iran for whom a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan was a nightmare.
While Pakistan remained neutral during the Iran-Iraq War, which threatened the fledgling Islamic Republic's existence, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's efforts to export the Iranian Revolution fueled tensions in Pakistan between its Sunni majority and sizable Shia minority.
The Iran-Pakistan rivalry intensified further following the 1989 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the ensuing civil war, the Pakistani-backed Taliban fought the Iranian-supported Northern Alliance, with the former eventually gaining control over 90 percent of Afghanistan.
KARACHI, Pakistan — Iran, which has amassed 200,000 troops on the border with Afghanistan, accused Pakistan on Sunday of sending warplanes to strafe and bombard Afghanistan's last Shiite stronghold, which fell hours earlier to the Taliban, the Sunni militia now controlling the central Asian country.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Even in Pakistan, opinion of Iran has somewhat soured, with negative ratings increasing from 8% to 16% over the past year.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help){{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)Taliban officials accused Iran of providing military support to the opposition forces; Tehran radio accused Pakistan of sending its air force to bomb the city in support of the Taliban's advance and said Iran was holding Pakistan responsible for what it termed war crimes at Bamiyan. Pakistan has denied that accusation and previous allegations of direct involvement in the Afghan conflict. Also fueling the volatile situation are ethnic and religious rivalries between the Taliban, who are Sunni Muslims of Afghanistan's dominant Pashtun ethnic group, and the opposition factions, many of which represent other ethnic groups or include Shiite Muslims. Iran, a Shiite Muslim state, has a strong interest in promoting that sect; Pakistan, one of the Taliban's few international allies, is about 80 percent Sunni.