Central Asia Consulting Inc.

08/28/2026

https://thediplomat.com/2026/08/iran-tajikistan-finalizing-fuel-export-agreement/

With Tajikistan’s main supplier of oil, Russia, under pressure, Dushanbe has turned to another partner: Iran.

08/27/2026

Tajikistan has opened its new $74M National Theatre in Dushanbe — 4,615 seats across three halls, the largest in Central Asia by seating capacity.
Anna Akhmatova once said: “We now know that one can kill fifty, a hundred people — and go to the theater in the evening.”
Her point remains haunting: a love of art does not make a person moral. A true theater should teach society to think, question, and speak uncomfortable truths to power.

08/25/2026

A network of brokers, companies, and shadow fleet vessels operating across the United Arab Emirates,Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Switzerland, Europe, and other regions to transport Iranian oil and channel revenue to the IRGC‑QF and other regime elements.

08/24/2026

Significant purchases and transport of Iranian petroleum already carry U.S. sanctions exposure.

Tajikistan has asked Iran to supply 2.55 million metric tons of crude oil and petroleum products as Dushanbe looks for alternatives to increasingly unreliable

08/23/2026

NATO has held large-scale air manoeuvres in the Baltic region near Russia’s Kaliningrad Region on August 18, 2026, involving US and Norwegian fighter jets, Polish ground forces, as well as airborne early warning aircraft, electronic warfare systems and helicopters, NATO spokesperson Colonel Martin O’Donnell has said.

NATO has held large-scale air manoeuvres in the Baltic region near Russia’s Kaliningrad Region on August 18, 2026, involving US and Norwegian fighter jets, Polish...

07/30/2026

https://youtu.be/vbvVFDT_JdE?is=4tKfwGzKYLs930np

Светлой памяти Малкиэла Нисимовича Даниэлова (1931–2026)20 июля 2...

07/27/2026

Saddened to learn of the passing of Muzaffar Orifi (Markiel Daniel). A proud Tajik Jew, distinguished writer, scholar, and journalist, he became the founding director of the Tajik Service of Radio Liberty (Radio Ozodi) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty when it launched in 1975 during the Cold War. Through his lifelong dedication to independent journalism and the free exchange of ideas, he left an enduring legacy for Tajikistan and beyond. My sincere condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and all who admired his work. May he rest in peace. https://www.ozodi.org/a/1048076.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

07/21/2026

"Even during the civil war, many people who returned to Tajikistan were generally not prosecuted. At least until the 1997 Peace Agreement, most returnees were able to come back without facing persecution. After 2015, however, this approach changed and became far more systematic".
Thank you PAYOM for the Tajik translation of our interview with
Seve Swerdlow, Bruce Pannier, Michael Hilliard for the Spotlight on Central Asia podcast. Thank you to
The Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, The Times of Central Asia
and the European Neighbourhood Council for providing a platform to discuss important issues. https://payom.tv/istirdod-sarkubi-faromilli-tojikiston/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTMh5xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeGjXdchm5qJqIdzxJcS8LT-H6Q58Q_w7yRTATKNv9kmTZDTJuBxB6oymk7_8_aem_mR0c47yvPOdlbE27SNZqng

In English here - https://timesca.com/tune-in-pannier-and-hillards-spotlight-on-central-asia-comes-to-the-times-of-central-asia/

07/21/2026

Today's Supreme Court decision in the Ismatullo Abdullozoda case has prompted many public reactions. Two comments stood out under Радиои Озодӣ facebook post:

"Can the judge who issued this sentence be compared with the judges who sentenced journalists? Do those judges ever feel remorse for such unjust decisions?"

"One person I know owed only 40,000 somoni. He was jailed, humiliated, fined nearly 100,000 somoni, and even jailed again for paying late."

These reactions reinforce my earlier concern that there may still be influential groups within the state that hinder national reconciliation. Many have held senior positions in strategic state-owned institutions such airports, customs, railways, and other key sectors. In my view, they have the most to fear from free thinkers, investigative journalists, greater transparency, and, above all, genuine national reconciliation and lasting peace, because these weaken entrenched interests.

07/18/2026

Tajikistan may be entering a new chapter. The release of imprisoned journalists Zavqibek Saidamini and Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda, followed by Saidamini’s first interview after regaining his freedom, offers a hopeful sign that the country could be moving toward greater openness and national reconciliation.

In my view, for years hardline elements sought to steer Tajikistan in a direction that increasingly resembled either Iran under the Ayatollahs or North Korea, even though this was never the intended course of Tajikistan’s leadership. To a significant extent, these elements nevertheless succeeded by restricting openness, silencing independent voices, and obstructing the process of national reconciliation.

I hope the release of political prisoners signals that Tajikistan’s leadership recognizes a long-standing challenge: a healthy society cannot flourish without openness, free discussion, and the exchange of different ideas. When independent voices are silenced, dogmatism, intolerance, and political imbalance take root. National reconciliation, openness, respect for freedom of expression, and the reintegration of former prisoners into society—not polarization—offer the strongest path toward a more stable, united, and prosperous future.

While much work remains, every step toward dialogue, trust, and the release of those unjustly imprisoned strengthens the country’s future. May this be only the beginning.