Pentagon Sought Sanctions Exemptions for Iranian Investment in Afghanistan --- WASHINGTON—As the U.S. struggled in recent years to help prop up Afghanistan’s anemic economy, the American military turned for help to an unlikely partner: Iran. -- The U.S. has no formal relations with Tehran and American companies are restricted from working with Iran by sanctions over the country’s disputed nuclear activities. Nevertheless, a specialized Pentagon task force sought to engage Afghanistan’s western neighbor for major business ventures it was promoting in the country. -- Twice in the last two years, the task force secured special permission from the U.S. government to seek help from Iran in setting up Afghanistan’s first pharmaceutical company and in developing four mines, according to government documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with people directly involved in the unusual outreach effort. -- Though the engagement with Iran ultimately faltered, the efforts demonstrated the lengths to which the American military was willing to go to promote business investment in Afghanistan to replace billions of dollars the U.S. and its allies have spent during 13 years of war. -- The Pentagon’s request for exemptions from America’s strict sanctions regime represented a note of pragmatism. Encouraging investment in one of the world’s poorest countries could, in some cases, take precedence over tight enforcement of sanctions against Iran. -- “For Afghanistan, you can’t ignore Iran,” said Joseph Catalino, head of the Pentagon’s Task Force for Business and Stability Operations—an agency that seeks to help rebuild Afghanistan’s economy by backing investment opportunities and business ventures. “They’re a major partner to them in many ways.” -- The unusual and quiet cooperation with Iran represents one small example of the Obama administration’s tentative efforts to allow for a closer relationship with America’s longtime adversary that would make it easier to work together in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. -- From last year’s ice-breaking phone call between Mr. Obama and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani to ongoing nuclear talks, the two nations have been trying to repair their relationship—much to the dismay of American allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, which are wary of Iran’s intentions. -- For critics of the administration’s outreach to Iran, the Pentagon’s efforts sent a dangerous signal amid negotiations between Iran and six world powers aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. -- “It’s why they see us as a paper tiger,” Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois said in an interview. “It is impossible to convey to the Iranians that you are getting tougher on them if DoD personnel are involved in granting Iranians special favors. It represents a total incoherence in the Obama administration,” he added. -- “You would expect that Afghans would outreach across the border to Iran, but for Americans to do it is really stunning and defeats the purpose of nuclear negotiations,” he said. -- Mr. Catalino is the last in a line of Pentagon officials leading the military’s unorthodox, five-year business development project in Afghanistan. The task force he runs started in Iraq in 2006 to aid investment in that country, and later turned its efforts to Afghanistan. -- Since 2009, the task force has aggressively courted international businesses and encouraged them, with marginal success, to invest in Afghanistan—a country beset by poverty, violence, governmental uncertainty and an unpredictable future, especially as U.S. and international forces reduce their presence. -- Hundreds of Iranian companies do business in Afghanistan and Tehran is constantly trying to cut into Pakistan’s business in the region, as it seeks to further trade with China and India. -- For Tehran, projecting economic influence into Afghanistan also serves as a counterweight to more than a decade of U.S. military involvement to Iran’s east and west. -- The International Monetary Fund stopped gathering data on Iranian imports into Afghanistan more than 30 years ago. But exports from Afghanistan to Iran indicate the relationship has mushroomed in recent years, with exports to Iran growing from $9.2 million in 2009 to $16.8 million in 2013. - Read More, WSJ, http://online.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-sought-sanctions-exemptions-for-iranian-investment-in-afghanistan-1415147286