Back in 1991 Iran stood and watched as America, a distant foe, defeated Iraq, a neighbour, in the Gulf war. A decade on, as America squares up to another neighbour, the Taliban of Afghanistan, it is a bit different: Iran's leaders are far from being of one mind. President Muhammad Khatami and his reformist supporters would like to use the episode to get closer to America, while the establishment around Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, is determined to stop them. Both sides, however, are united in their desire to have a say in Afghanistan's political future, and both are anxious to prevent an influx of Afghan refugees: Iran already plays host to about 2m of them.
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