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Is Iran supplying weapons to the Taliban?
Coalition forces in Afghanistan have intercepted Iranian weapons crossing the border, but Iran denies supplying their longtime enemy.
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This is not the first time that Iran has been accused of trafficking weapons to the Taliban. In April, coalition forces discovered Iranian-made weapons in Kandahar, Afghanistan, though officials could not establish a clear link between Iran and the Taliban regarding the weapons, reported Al Jazeera.
The Daily Telegraph reports that coalition forces in Afghanistan regularly deal with smugglers trying to transport weapons into the country along the Afghan-Iranian border.
British and American special forces have intercepted a number of truckloads of weapons crossing the Iranian border into Nimroz province.
The British embassy yesterday told The Daily Telegraph: "Iran has publicly expressed its support for stability in Afghanistan and has a vested interest in supporting efforts against the Taliban. Any Iranian links to illegal armed groups either through supply of munitions, training or funding would be unacceptable."
However, one high-ranking Afghan government official said: "We are absolutely convinced that the Iranian intelligence service is providing support to the Taliban."
Iran's ambassador to Kabul, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, said: "Our belief is that a return of extremism to Afghanistan not only has a negative effect for Afghanistan but also for other countries in the region and beyond."
The allegations come at a tense time for American-Iranian relations. Although the US and Iran recently engaged in their first senior-level talks in nearly 30 years, the talks dealt largely with Iran supplying Iraqi Shiites with munitions. Additionally Iranian officials have detained four American citizens, three of whom have been charged with spying. Reuters reports that the incident underscores Iran's distrust of US intentions.
The United States has denied the three [accused] are U.S. spies and demanded their release, saying that they are private citizens who went Iran to meet family and have ordinary professional contacts.
Tehran accuses Washington of using intellectuals and others inside the country to undermine the Islamic Republic through what it calls a "velvet revolution."
Despite latent hostility between Iran and the US, neither nation appears interested in escalating the situation at present. Speaking about the possibility of Iran running guns to the Taliban, "one analyst called it a game of 'managed chaos,' just enough to bloody America's nose in Afghanistan," reported CNN.
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