Iran dismissed on Wednesday accusations by the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal that Tehran has helped train and arm Taliban insurgents.
“Those kinds of lies are designed to conceal the failures of the in Afghanistan,” Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said. On Sunday, Gen. McChrystal told reporters in Kabul that Iran — Afghanistan’s western neighbour — has generally assisted the Afghan government in fighting the insurgent group.
“There is, however, clear evidence of Iranian activity — in some cases providing weaponry and training to the Taliban — that is inappropriate,” he said.
Gen. McChrystal did not provide details on how many fighters allegedly were trained in Iran.
Speaking in Brussels, where he met with EU officials and European legislators, Mr Mottaki said that “in Afghanistan, Iran has always been part of the solution,” and that Tehran was cooperating with the government in Kabul to stabilise the war-torn nation. But he lambasted “erroneous”
US policies, blaming them for the ongoing conflict.
“When they arrived in Afghanistan eight years ago, the Americans said they would bring stability, destroy the drug trade and eliminate extremists and terrorists.” Instead, the extremists are still there today, drugs production is at record levels, and instability has engulfed the entire country, he said. “The result is that ... extremism and fundamentalism have spread throughout the region,” Mr Mottaki said.
Mr Mottaki also played down the possibility that the UN Security Council will adopt a US-backed resolution calling for further sanctions against Iran.