Afghan officials accuse Iran of supporting Taliban

Afghani security forces have formally complained of Iran logistically and militarily supporting the activities of extremist groups such as the Afghan Taliban, Al Arabiya reported today.

An Afghan official, Asif Nangh, told Kabul Television that Iran supports the fundamentalist organisation and one-time rulers of Afghanistan by hosting training camps and exercises within its own borders.

A former Afghan diplomat, Wahid Mojdeh, told German media outlet Deustche Welle: “This is the first time that the Afghan authorities has accused Iran of supporting the Taliban openly. In the past, they always blamed Pakistan for this.”

Afghan Taliban spokesperson and second-in-command, Mullah Zabihullah, told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper last year that the Taliban “maintains good relations and communications with Iran according to a regional understanding.”

Afghan authorities reported last February seizing a cache of Iranian mines and other weapons that were being held and stored by the Taliban in Bamyan, in central Afghanistan.

The former leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, reportedly sought medical attention and stayed in Iran for two months before departing the Shia theocracy. Mansour was killed a week after returning from Iran in May this year.

Reports indicate that Mansour made deals with Iran before he was killed, where he guaranteed that the Taliban, a Sunni fundamentalist organisation, would not fight alongside Daesh.

Al Arabiya further claimed that Zabihullah had confirmed that the Taliban were receiving surveillance drones from Tehran, though they also cited a further Asharq Al-Awsat report where Zabihullah later denied any support from the Iranian regime.

“We heard these reports [about Iranian support for the Taliban], but they are untrue,” Zabihullah said early last year.

The revelations that Shia Iran has relations with extremist Sunni organisations comes after sustained accusations that it has long harboured and supported groups such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Earlier this year, the US Treasury sanctioned three Al-Qaeda operatives, confirming they were currently living in Iran.