Who to believe? Afghan officials or Western forces desperate to isolate Iran?
Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said Oct. 19 there was no evidence that Iran was supplying weapons to Taliban militants waging a violent insurgency.
Spanta’s comments came after Gen. Dan McNeill, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said a day earlier that a convoy of explosives intercepted in September had arrived from Iran, probably with the knowledge of the Iranian military.
“Our government has no evidence to show Iran is giving weapons to the Taliban, and we have never stated this,” Spanta told reporters after meeting with Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in the western city of Herat.
U.S. and British officials have alleged for months that weapons from Iran are going to the Taliban rebels fighting Kabul and its international allies, the main one being Washington, which has a strained relationship with Tehran.
Iran has denied the allegations, and Afghanistan has also said it has no proof.