Regional cooperation

The paper is an attempt to analyse Afghanistan's shifting security and economic conditions under Taliban rule using the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT). Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, they have faced critical challenges in establishing stable governance, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis compounded by economic collapse and political isolation. External aid reduction and sanctions have limited Afghanistan’s access to the global financial system, leading to dramatic socio-economic setbacks. Regional actors, including India, Pakistan, China and Iran, interact cautiously with the Taliban administration, aiming to prevent cross-border instability and insurgent threats, while hesitating to grant formal recognition. For South Asia, Afghanistan’s internal upheaval escalates security tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, and poses broader risks regarding extremism and economic destabilization. This study suggests that collaborative, conditional engagement by regional stakeholders facilitated through SAARC and SCO platforms may provide a viable path toward stability if the Taliban adhere to basic humanitarian and security norms. Such regional engagement is essential for addressing Afghanistan's humanitarian needs and reducing threats to regional security.

In the context of efficient governance, all the pillars of any political system in the 21st century use their capacities to secure and guarantee national interests as facilitators and complements of the state, whereas in the past this was the sole responsibility of the states. The role of parliaments in this field, which is referred to as parliamentary diplomacy, falls within the aforementioned framework. In this regard, the of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, as an active parliament in the field of multilateral parliamentary diplomacy, has participated in the establishment of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC). In addition, by constantly attending the meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, it has emphasized its importance in international relations. Therefore, in the present article, using documents and library resources by reading texts in an exploratory method in response to the question of what achievements the Islamic Parliament of Iran has made in the framework of parliamentary diplomacy, This hypothesis is examined based on the rational choice institutionalism, Although the Islamic Parliament of Iran has turned to multilateral parliamentarism in recent years, efforts to strengthen it as a complementary and facilitating diplomacy through cooperation with the parliaments of neighboring countries are a constructive step.