Closer Tajik Ties Can Help Check Saudi Extremism

Strained relations between Iran and Tajikistan should set off alarm bells in the Central Asian country as it will give Saudi Arabia ample room for maneuver and create conditions for the rise of extremism, according to an Iranian news agency. 
"Cold relations between the two countries, which share a common cultural heritage, will create favorable conditions for Saudi Arabia and Takfiri groups that will definitely pose a great security challenge to Tajikistan," Mehr News Agency wrote in a commentary published recently, following Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to the Tajik capital Dushanbe last month. 
Takfiris are hardliners who accuse any Muslim not following their extreme interpretation of Islam as apostates punishable by death.