Kabul, Afghanistan – Iran gives political and material support to President Hamid Karzai’s Western-backed government, but it also may be aiding the Taliban as a way of hedging its bets in neighboring Afghanistan, NATO’s top general here said Monday.
U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill said Taliban fighters are showing signs of better training, using combat techniques comparable to “an advanced Western military” in ambushes of U.S. Special Forces soldiers.
Iran’s possible role in aiding insurgents in Iraq has long been hotly debated, and last month, some Western and Persian Gulf governments charged that the Islamic government in Tehran is secretly bolstering Taliban fighters.
“In Afghanistan, it is clear that the Taliban is receiving support, including arms from … elements of the Iranian regime,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote in the May 31 edition of the Economist.
Iran denies the Taliban accusation, calling it part of a broad anti-Iranian campaign.
McNeill, commander of 36,000 soldiers in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said indications on the ground cut both ways.
There is “ample evidence” that Iran is helping Karzai’s administration, particularly with road construction and electricity in western Afghanistan, he said. But, he added: “I have heard officials in the Afghan government say that the Iranian government has provided some support to political opponents of the Karzai administration. I suspect that’s probably true.”
