, the President of Tajikistan and
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the
Islamic Consultative Assembly in May 2022 in
Tehran.Relations between Iran and Tajikistan began to deteriorate after the assets of a wanted Iranian oligarch,
Babak Zanjani, were confiscated by the Tajik government despite the Iranian government's warnings. Zanjani was charged with money laundering, embezzlement and stealing over $6 billion from the Iranian oil and gas industry. His foreign assets were supposed to be collected as collateral and compensation, but Tajik government refused to hand over the assets and denied that Zanjani had any investment in Tajik Bank. Iran saw this belligerent action by a friendly ally as a betrayal and a sign to reduce further commercial ties and industrial cooperation with Tajikistan. The invitation of wanted Tajik opposition leader
Muhiddin Kabiri by Iran to an Islamic seminary in Iran on December 27–29, 2015, which was warmly received by Iran's Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei, exacerbated the relations even further. Tajikistan immediately issued a note of protest to Iran. Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's Ambassador to express "regret" against this act, and the head of the Council of Ulema of Tajikistan described Iran's invitation of Kabiri as "abetting terrorism." 2016 was the lowest relationship point between the two countries since Tajikistan obtained independence in 1991. However, since 2019, relations have been warming again. Tajikistan’s concerns about the security of its borders with Afghanistan, which is controlled by the
Taliban, and
Kyrgyzstan, which is supported by
Turkey and
Turkic countries, have made defense cooperation with Iran much more important for the country. On September 17, 2021,
Ebrahim Raisi, the then President of Iran, traveled to Tajikistan to attend the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. After being officially welcomed by Tajik President
Emomali Rahmon, the two sides emphasized the importance of cultural relations. During the meeting, the Iranian President spoke of the beginning of a “new chapter” in relations between the two countries, and eight cooperation documents, mostly in the economic field, were signed. In 2022, the Chief of Staff of the
Iranian Armed Forces inaugurated a drone manufacturing factory in Tajikistan. The same year, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon also visited Iran for the first time in 9 years. On November 8, 2023, President Raisi visited Tajikistan again. The two sides signed several agreements during this visit, including a document abolishing visas between the two countries. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited Iran again on 21 May 2023. He traveled to Tehran with an official delegation to offer condolences on the death of President Raisi. One of the key events in the warming of relations was the official visit of
Masoud Pezeshkian, the current President of Iran, to Tajikistan, in 2025. During this visit, he emphasized the importance of linguistic, literary, and cultural commonalities that date back to the ancient times, and stated that this common heritage provides the basis for strengthening relations even further. At the end of their speeches, Pezeshkian and Rahmon recited two verses of Rudaki's poem together, which was met with widespread applause both in the meeting and later on social media. ==Economy==