September 1, 2026:
During the recent Iran war, it was revealed that there were, and long had been, many Indian intelligence operatives active throughout the country. The Indians kept quiet about it, especially the fact that the Indians worked with the Israeli network, which included Iranians, Indians, other Iranian minorities, and a few Israelis. The Israeli network has been active since the 1980s, when a religious dictatorship took control of the government. The Indians were apparently active even longer. Not so much as full-time spies but as Indians willing to tell RAW, the Indian intelligence agency, what they had noticed in Iran. Israel does the same thing. This technique is common worldwide, and the Chinese are the most ardent practitioners, calling this their Thousand Grains of Sand technique. For decades, Israel and India have been trading partners, with India buying lots of high-tech equipment and weapons from Israel. Indian firms export over a billion dollars' worth of manufactured goods to Israel each year.
When, up until 1979, Iran was a constitutional monarchy, foreigners were tolerated, and Iran had its own operatives in Israel and India. The current Iranian government is fueled by endless paranoia that foreigners are out to overthrow their harsh rule. Most Iranians agree with the foreigners, but speaking out in Iran will get you killed or imprisoned and tortured to death. Yet Iran also tries to build peaceful relationships with some of its neighbors.
Last year, Iran and Pakistan agreed to cooperate on economic, diplomatic, and military matters. Each country defines these terms differently. While both nations border Afghanistan, Iran has far fewer problems with the Afghans. Iran recently agreed to upgrade their relations with the new IEA, or Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, government. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is more radical religiously and imposes a strict version of Islamic Sharia law on Afghans. This has led to cutoffs of foreign aid and most nations refusing to establish diplomatic relations.
Iran is trying to peacefully reestablish good relations with the IEA government. Afghanistan and Iran have border and water-rights disputes. Iran wants Afghan refugees in Iran to return home, and the Islamic Emirate Afghanistan is willing to help with that in return for better diplomatic and trade relationships as well as a serious and final effort to agree on their mutual 900-kilometer border.
Pakistan has more serious problems with Afghanistan, with Pakistan accusing the Islamic Emirate Afghanistan of tolerating TTP Islamic terrorists that make attacks into Pakistan. The IEA denies supporting the TTP and admits that its security forces are not numerous enough to eliminate the TTP while also maintaining order in the rest of Afghanistan.
Iran and Pakistan share a common 900-kilometer border that ends at the Arabian Sea. Pakistan accuses Iran of not doing enough to eliminate Pakistani Baluchi separatists from maintaining bases in Iran. While these Baluchi bases have been tolerated, or simply ignored, for years, the Iran-Pakistan talks have resulted in Iranian attacks on the Baluchi groups on the Iranian side of the border. In the past, Baluchi separatists have also caused trouble in Iran. Now Iran and Pakistan agree to coordinate efforts to reduce or eliminate Baluchi separatists on both sides of the border.
Both Iran and Pakistan have serious internal problems. Iran has faced economic sanctions for decades. The Iranian economy is a mess, despite oil income. The sanctions mean Iran has to smuggle out its oil exports and gets less money for it than other oil-exporting nations. Worse, the sanctions have blocked imports of equipment and services needed to keep oil and natural gas fields operational. As a result, more and more Iranian oil wells and natural gas pumping operations are shutting down. This has reached the point where over a dozen power plants that burn natural gas have no supply. This means less electricity and less fuel to keep Iranians warm in the cold weather months.
Another mutual concern is Islamic terrorism. Twenty nations account for over 95 percent of terrorism activity worldwide. Of these twenty, which include Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Uganda, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Colombia, Algeria, Thailand, Philippines, Russia, Sudan, Iran, Burundi, India, Nigeria and Israel, all but the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Colombia and Burundi involve Islamic terrorism. In terms of terrorism fatalities, the top four nations are Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia, which account for about 70 percent of the world total. All of this was the result of Islamic radicalism, often directed at other Muslims, and not just non-Muslims or infidels.
This has been the case for decades, and the Muslim world does not like to dwell on it. Many Muslim leaders admit that there is a lot of Islamic terrorism but insist that it’s all the fault of Infidels (everyone who isn’t a Muslim) who are making war on Islam, so some Muslims feel compelled to fight back. The catch-phrase Moslem leaders like to repeat is that Islam is the religion of peace. It is not, and the historical record makes that very clear. The Islamic scriptures incorporated in the Koran explicitly call for violence against Infidels who refuse to accept Islam. For Iranians, this is a problem because Iranians are Shia Muslims while most Muslims are Sunni. Normally Sunni and Shia get along, but these differences can be exploited by government or religious leaders and often are when such strife is needed.
Sixteen years ago, America, India, Britain, and Israel all signed intelligence-sharing agreements with each other to better track Islamic terrorists operating in their territory and planning attacks against all four countries. This is more than exchanging names of terrorists or terrorist suspects. These four countries compare what they have on terrorist tactics, recruiting, training, propaganda, and fundraising, and occasionally plan and carry out joint operations.
Many other countries (Russia, most NATO nations, and several Muslim states) have also entered into counter-terror cooperation deals, but not to the extent of these four nations. That's because America, India, Britain, and Israel are all at more risk from Islamic terrorism than anyone else, and because these four nations have the most resources to deal with the problem. Thus, these nations are careful about who they share information with, because even knowing what they know can reveal sources (who they got it from) and methods (how they collected it, especially electronically).
Even with these agreements, the four nations do not share equally. Britain and the U.S. have the longest and closest relationship. Israel and America are also tight when it comes to counter-terrorism. Israel proved very useful in Iraq, where they helped the Americans implement counter-terror tactics that had been used a few years earlier to shut down the latest Palestinian terror campaign.
India has been on the receiving end of Pakistani-supported Islamic terrorism for over half a century. While India has been close to Britain, relations were rather more strained with the United States (because India held itself up as a left-leaning neutral during the Cold War) The leftist and Cold War attitudes have abated in the last decade, and India has become quite close to Israel and the United States, and even closer to Britain, at least when it comes to dealing with Islamic terrorism.
Israel has also provided India with tactical advice, and modern sensors and electronics for helping stop Islamic terrorists from sneaking in from Pakistan. Israel has also tried, with limited success, to impress on Britain and the United States the true attitudes of Islamic nations towards the West. Many Israelis can speak and read Arabic, and see the anti-West, anti-Infidel (non-Muslim) slant in Arab media all the time. When speaking in English, or whatever language their non-Muslim audience uses, the Arabs play down the constant hate. But this goes a long way towards explaining all those opinion surveys that show the hatred towards the non-Muslim world in Islamic countries. This has been going on for decades, but only the Israelis really know and appreciate it.