"No Proof Iran Arming The Taliban"

Afghanistan Says No Proof Iran Govt Arming Taliban

Source: Reuters
Fri Oct 19, 10:13 AM ET
News.Yahoo

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan said on Friday it had no evidence the government of Iran was behind a shipment of weapons to Taliban insurgents.

The commander of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan said on Thursday a shipment of hi-tech roadside bombs intercepted in Afghanistan on September 5 had originated in Iran and it was difficult to conceive Tehran's military did not know about it.

"Iran is our neighbor, is our friend and Iran has had major role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan," Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said during a visit to the western city of Herat on the border with Iran.

"The government of Afghanistan has no documents (to show) that Iran's government is involved in the shipment of arms," he told Reuters.

U.S. leaders have accused Iran of supplying weapons to Taliban insurgents, but Afghan officials have refrained from repeating the charge and insist Iran and Afghanistan enjoy warm neighborly relations.

Tehran strongly denies the charge.

On a visit for an economic conference in Herat, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki repeated the denial on Friday.

"These are the allegations that they make. The reasons for the allegations are clear for us," he told reporters without elaborating on the reasons.