In Central Asia, Iran has friends

Tehran faces profound hostility from many of its immediate neighbours, as well as from the collective West. Central Asian governments, meanwhile, are cultivating warm economic and diplomatic ties.

Iran is at daggers drawn with Israel and hemmed in by the West’s economic sanctions.

Tensions between Tehran and several Gulf nations are in a semi-permanent simmer.

And earlier this year, Iran risked igniting a regional conflict by firing missiles at militant camps in Pakistan.

Relations between Tehran and its neighbours to the north, in Central Asia, mea…