It is a dispute that has severely strained relations between Iran and Afghanistan; for weeks, more than 1,600 diesel fuel tankers bound for Afghanistan have been stranded on the Iranian side of the border without apparent explanation. Now, amid shortages and soaring fuel prices, the government in Kabul has approached Afghanistan's erstwhile foe, Russia, in a search for an alternative energy source.
![Abdullah Abdullah is one of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's most vocal critics. "Nullification of the...elections was [Karzai's] aim right from the beginning," he says.](https://gdb.rferl.org/E1045599-AC47-42C7-8841-7A41A98EE644_w100_r1.jpg)
![Abdullah Abdullah is one of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's most vocal critics. "Nullification of the...elections was [Karzai's] aim right from the beginning," he says.](https://gdb.rferl.org/E1045599-AC47-42C7-8841-7A41A98EE644_w66_r1.jpg)
