Iran official dismisses Pompeo’s ‘baseless’ allegations on arming Taliban

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “baseless” allegations that Tehran is supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with arms.

Khatibzadeh said in a statement released yesterday that the current situation in Afghanistan “is the outcome of US warmongering and its intervention” in Afghan affairs, according to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.

Pompeo made his allegations against Iran last week in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the Czech Republic.

“We’ve made clear we know the history, we know that the Russians have armed the Taliban in the past, right. We know that the Iranians continue to arm them today,” he said.

Khatibzadeh added that Pompeo’s accusations are an attempt to shift the blame to others and “deflect public opinion in Afghanistan with regard to US aid to ISIS [Daesh].”

He also said that the US has not yet responded to the Afghan “public opinion’s demands regarding the identity of helicopters flying in Afghan airspace and under NATO coverage to help Daesh,” according to IRNA.

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