Iran rejects ‘bizarre’ Saudi claims of support for Taliban

Rasa - Iran’s embassy in Kabul has dismissed as “bizarre” claims by a Saudi diplomat about the Islamic Republic’s alleged links to Taliban militants and armed groups inside Afghanistan.

News ID: 431540

Date: 08 August 2017 - 22:31

RNA - In a Tuesday statement, the embassy said it regarded as “baseless and groundless” the unprofessional and divisive remarks by the Saudi chargé d'affaires in Kabul, Mishari al-Harbi, and completely rejected them. The Saudi diplomat had recently accused Iran of supporting the Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

“The claim of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for armed groups inside Afghanistan made by a regime which had recognized the former Taliban government and still has broad links with various terrorist groups in the country and the entire region seems bizarre,” the statement added.

This is while the Iranian diplomats have themselves been victims to acts of violence and terror in Afghanistan, it said.

Taliban militants killed Mahmoud Saremi, the correspondent of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), along with eight Iranian diplomats, in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.

The statement further said the root causes of the extremist and terrorist ideology in the region were clear to all and everyone is aware that the pursuit of such wrong policies by the sponsors of this ideology has led to numerous problems.

It added that the Islamic Republic once again reiterates its principal policy in supporting Afghanistan’s peace and stability and still believes that the war-ravaged country should turn into a place for constructive interaction among states.

The embassy also urged all countries to refrain from spreading their own issues and failures into Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is still grappling with violence well over a decade after the US and its allies invaded the country as part of the so-called war on terror. The invasion removed the Taliban from power, but has failed to stop the militancy.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Daesh terror group, which is mainly based in the Middle East, has managed to establish a foothold in the eastern Province of Nangarhar.

847/940