KABUL, 15 August 2007 — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied yesterday US accusations his country was arming Taleban insurgents in neighboring Afghanistan. US officials say Iranian weapons are entering Afghanistan on such a scale it is hard to believe Tehran is not aware of the shipments. High-powered roadside bombs, which Washington says Iran sends to Iraq, have also begun to appear in Afghanistan.
Asked about the accusations, Ahmadinejad told a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul: “I strongly doubt that, there is no truth in it ... even in Iraq such claims are made.” Ahmadinejad was in Afghanistan just a week after Afghan President Hamid Karzai returned from a visit to Iran’s archfoe, the United States, where President George W. Bush warned his guest that Iran was “not a force for good.”
The United States accuses Iran of arming militant groups throughout the Middle East, attempting to destabilize its neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan and seeking to develop a nuclear arsenal, all charges Tehran denies. Karzai’s pro-Western government has rarely criticized Iran, with which it shares a long and porous border and enjoys strong trading ties.
The Iranian president blamed the West for terrorism. “The Afghan and Iranian governments are both victims of terrorism. Terrorism is supported by superpowers,” he said.
Karzai said his country might be able to bridge the divide between the United States and Iran, at odds since the Iranian revolution deposed the US-backed shah in 1979. “Afghanistan has strong ties with Iran, we share the same religion and language. Also, we are a strategic partner of the United States,” Karzai told the news conference.
Meanwhile, two South Korean women freed by Taleban after more than three weeks in captivity prepared to head home today with talks over the release of their 19 compatriots deferred. After four days of direct negotiations, there were no direct talks between the Taleban and a South Korean delegation in Ghazni yesterday, according to Afghan and international officials close to the negotiations.
