Death Showcases Afghan Taliban Leader’s Iran Connection

[Shapur]

[MENTION=18674]Insight[/MENTION]

No one can deny Iran, Pakistan and even Russia has links to Taliban. The question is why would Iran back Taliban, is it because
they are afraid of US /NATO bases in Afghanistan
They think Taliban are the future rulers and they want a friendly regime
They can use Taliban for strategic depth like Pakistan.
As i mentioned before Iran helped the USA and allies tople the Taliban regime in 2001 so do you think Taliban would be stupid enough to trust the Ayatollahs again? The opposition to foreign bases in Afghanistan is the only thing which unites the Taliban and Ayatholas, they have nothing in common besides that unless as the article mentions the Taliban become like Hezbi Islami.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

Pakistan is more concerned about Afghanistan than it will ever be for Iran because we get more from having no relations with iran from gulf states than we will get from relations with Iran.

So better ignore them for the time being and work with the gulf states.

Told you guys already.Work on Economy and everything will settle itself with the passage of time.

By work on economy i mean a sustained growth rate of more than 7% till 2030

[Golden]

I wonder if in near future Pakistan will nuke Tehran? It's clear they have been supporting RAW agents in Balochistan. It's time for Pakistan to threaten likes of Iran with nuclear bomb if more Indian agents are caught in Balochistan. In case of India there will be blow back but likes of Iran should be treated like they deserve. This is also important to make our Sunni allies happy.

[Bengal_Tiger]

The Iran visa allegation sounds like a typical paki fabrication. The pakis' hand picked Taliban 'Emir' Mullah Mansour was tracked down in Pakiland and executed there. That is the plain fact of the matter.

You are right that typical two faced paki diversion tactics to shift blame to Iran will only worsen Tehran's already disdainful view of Pakiland and will not help the paki case one bit.

Yes.

The Pakistani regime (controlled by their military) are notorious liars and for them lying is like drinking water.

However excessive lying has caught up with them.

1. Angering the Iranians (who already prefer India to Pakistan anyway) will make the Iranians not support (not that they were planning to), but actually speak against the planned Pakistani campaign against Bangladesh in the OIC.

The Pakistanis are angry their the asset, the Jamaat e Islami, in Bangladesh is seeing key leaders convicted of war criminals being eliminated.

Just as they use the Taliban in Afghanistan to destabilize Afghanistan and promote Pakistani influence, they use the Jamaat in Bangladesh i.e. the Jamaat is a strategic Pakistani tool, so its weakening is a serious threat to Pakistan.


2. The Pakistanis have also angered the Saudis due to their duplicity over Yemen. The Pakistani army played a key part in planning and inciting the Saudi fiasco in Yemen, and the Saudis thought the Pakistanis - who had been instrumental in the conceptual planning of the whole Yemen invasion - would naturally join in.

Lo and behold much to their surprise the two-faced Pakistani army didn't.

Even the Saudis are turning towards the Indians more so partly to spite the Pakistanis and are also relaxing their traditionally hostile attitude to Bangladesh.



3. The Pakistani game plan in Bangladesh was to portray the Islamist Jamaat e Islami, war criminals executed not as ISIS/Al-Qaeda/Boko Haram type extremists eliminated by the state but "Pan-Islamic Muslim heroes" to be revered by the ignorant Muslim masses across the "Ummah".



Boko Haram, the Jamaat e Islami of Nigeria.



Jamaat e Islami, the Boko Haram of Bangladesh.

They were planning to incite the Saudis and Iranians against Bangladesh using this propaganda.

Needless to say that the Saudis and Iranians are not interested. Only madman Erdogan and his ISIS-supporting regime are.


*Point being, the Pakistanis are liars but their natural and habitual lying is working against them now on different fronts.

[Insight]

BTW even if this is true, and Mansoor visited Iran, its pretty obvious the reason: Iran wants to contain ISIS. So they are even ready to "collaborate" to some degree with Taliban in order to keep ISIS at bay. I don't think Iran wants the Afghan government to collapse nor a Taliban take over. The relationship between Afghanistan and Iran has improved a lot in the past 15 years. Iran will use Taliban as a pawn for some minor an petty issues such as Salma Dam in Herat and thats it.

Iran's has been backing the Taliban insurgency since early 2005. This is according to US intelligence reports.

SpyTalk
- New intelligence on Iran antiaircraft missiles in Afghanistan



Iran Backs Taliban With Cash and Arms - WSJ

Why did the Taliban go to Tehran? | World news | The Guardian

Iran 'trains Taliban fighters' in four camps - Telegraph

[Firdousi]

Iran's has been backing the Taliban insurgency since early 2005. This is according to US intelligence reports.

SpyTalk
- New intelligence on Iran antiaircraft missiles in Afghanistan



Iran Backs Taliban With Cash and Arms - WSJ

Why did the Taliban go to Tehran? | World news | The Guardian

Iran 'trains Taliban fighters' in four camps - Telegraph

Pretty obvious: the enemy of my enemy is my friend (to some degree). Iran does not want USA close to its border.. neither they want a hardcore Sunni movement taking over the whole country. Right now they are OK with Afghanistan. Trade is increasing, most of Afghan refugees have left Iran, Afghanistan is more stable than 15 years ago and much better integrated into the regional dynamic, the Afghan government and the Army are both mainly controlled by fellow Persianspeakers.. why give all this away for the sake of the Taliban?

[Insight]

Pretty obvious: the enemy of my enemy is my friend (to some degree). Iran does not want USA close to its border.. neither they want a hardcore Sunni movement taking over the whole country. Right now they are OK with Afghanistan.

If that is true, then why are they arming the Taliban insurgency which is fighting the Kabul regime (which is dominated by Persian speakers according to you)? Remember, most US/NATO troops have been withdrawn from Afghanistan.

[Firdousi]

If that is true, then why are they arming the Taliban insurgency which is fighting the Kabul regime (which is dominated by Persian speakers according to you)? Remember, most US/NATO troops have been withdrawn from Afghanistan.

I have already answered to those questions. Dont force me to repeat myself over and over again.

Read #10.

[Insight]

I have already answered to those questions. Dont force me to repeat myself over and over again.

Read #10.

You did not answer the question.

[Golden]

Iran is about to get ****ed, they will be sanctioned again in no time. Still no one is willing to come forward to finance IP because threat of Iran sanctions once again is looming around.

Mullahs in Tehran cannot be trusted, they have given up nuclear program. Let's not kid ourself, these retards were not anywhere near making any bomb. All they can make is 5th generation paper planes on photoshop.

In any case world knows USA is waiting to put sanctions on Iran once again.

US lawmakers question India's plans for Chabahar port

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

US lawmakers question India's plans for Chabahar port - Times of India

[Insight]

I have already answered to those questions. Dont force me to repeat myself over and over again.

Read #10.

No you are engaging in denial, and still not answered this question below.



No you still refuse to answer this question below so you are just annoyed with me because I show the facts.

ISIS? Did ISIS exist in 2007? How do you explain the fact that Iran has been arming the Taliban since 2005?

First US report is from 2007 where former Secretary Burns says this

Iran arming Taliban, U.S. claims - CNN.com
[The United States has "irrefutable evidence" that Tehran is transferring arms to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, a top U.S. diplomat told CNN Wednesday, noting that NATO forces have intercepted some of the arms shipments."There's irrefutable evidence the Iranians are now doing this and it's a pattern of activity," U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN.

"It's certainly coming from the government of Iran. It's coming from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government," Burns said.]
McChrystal: Taliban training in Iran - Iranian Threat - Jerusalem Post

Another report from 2010 by US General McChrystal:

Is US general McChrystal lying because this truth doesn't fit your narrative or the reality you want to accept?


By ASSOCIATED PRESS \
05/30/2010 20:24


[Gen. Stanley McChrystal told reporters in the Afghan capital that Iran had generally assisted the Afghan government in fighting the insurgent group. "There is, however, clear evidence of Iranian activity — in some cases providing weaponry and training to the Taliban — that is inappropriate," he said, adding that NATO forces were working to stop both the training and the weapons trafficking.]


Now unless you want to say the US (masters of the Kabul regime and Pak regime) are lying, then be my guest. That would be selective and cherry picking, and laughable!

[Firdousi]

Iran is about to get ****ed, they will be sanctioned again in no time. Still no one is willing to come forward to finance IP because threat of Iran sanctions once again is looming around.

Mullahs in Tehran cannot be trusted, they have given up nuclear program. Let's not kid ourself, these retards were not anywhere near making any bomb. All they can make is 5th generation paper planes on photoshop.

In any case world knows USA is waiting to put sanctions on Iran once again.

US lawmakers question India's plans for Chabahar port

"We have been very clear with the Indians (about) continuing restrictions on activities with respect to Iran," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Tuesday.

US lawmakers question India's plans for Chabahar port - Times of India

I just love the way Indians with their amazing projects are pis*sing off Pakistanis. Everywhere you go you see a Paki in a bad mood, crying and moaning about how everything will fail except the almighty loser nation of Pakistan who will defeat everyone despite being unable to defeat few poorly armed tribal fighters and totally incompetent when it comes to protecting its own sovereignty. A broke beggar nation indeed. Hilarious lmao

[Firdousi]

No you are engaging in denial, and still not answered this question below.



No you still refuse to answer this question below so you are just annoyed with me because I show the facts.

ISIS? Did ISIS exist in 2007? How do you explain the fact that Iran has been arming the Taliban since 2005?

First US report is from 2007 where former Secretary Burns says this

Iran arming Taliban, U.S. claims - CNN.com
[The United States has "irrefutable evidence" that Tehran is transferring arms to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, a top U.S. diplomat told CNN Wednesday, noting that NATO forces have intercepted some of the arms shipments."There's irrefutable evidence the Iranians are now doing this and it's a pattern of activity," U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN.

"It's certainly coming from the government of Iran. It's coming from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government," Burns said.]
McChrystal: Taliban training in Iran - Iranian Threat - Jerusalem Post

Another report from 2010 by US General McChrystal:

Is US general McChrystal lying because this truth doesn't fit your narrative or the reality you want to accept?


By ASSOCIATED PRESS \
05/30/2010 20:24


[Gen. Stanley McChrystal told reporters in the Afghan capital that Iran had generally assisted the Afghan government in fighting the insurgent group. "There is, however, clear evidence of Iranian activity — in some cases providing weaponry and training to the Taliban — that is inappropriate," he said, adding that NATO forces were working to stop both the training and the weapons trafficking.]


Now unless you want to say the US (masters of the Kabul regime and Pak regime) are lying, then be my guest. That would be selective and cherry picking, and laughable!

Thats an old story, bai. I told you its obvious Iran gave some support to Taliban.. but all your sources are pre-withdrawal. I need something more recent.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

So this Mansour guy visited his family 2 times this year in iran as per WSJ

[Insight]

Thats an old story, bai. I told you its obvious Iran gave some support to Taliban.. but all your sources are pre-withdrawal. I need something more recent.

Actually, I posted this the link for this WSJ article below and several other links earlier in this thread all of which are from June 2015.

Iran Backs Taliban With Cash and Arms

Shiite Tehran has quietly boosted ties with the Sunni militant group and is now recruiting and training its fighters


By Margherita Stancati

June 11, 2015 7:32 p.m. ET



KABUL—When Abdullah, a Taliban commander in central Afghanistan, needs more rifles and ammunition, he turns to the same people who pay his $580-a-month salary: his Iranian sponsors.
“Iran supplies us with whatever we need,” he said.
Afghan and Western officials say Tehran has quietly increased its supply of weapons, ammunition and funding to the Taliban, and is now recruiting and training their fighters, posing a new threat to Afghanistan’s fragile security.
Iran’s strategy in backing the Taliban is twofold, these officials say: countering U.S. influence in the region and providing a counterweight to Islamic State’s move into the Taliban’s territory in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s aggressive military push and the new momentum toward peace negotiations between them and Kabul also raises the possibility that some of their members could eventually return to power.
“Iran is betting on the re-emergence of the Taliban,” said a Western diplomat. “They are uncertain about where Afghanistan is heading right now, so they are hedging their bets.”
Iranian officials didn’t respond to requests for comment, but Tehran has repeatedly denied providing financial or military aid to the Taliban in conversations with Afghan and Western officials. “Whenever we discussed it, they would deny it,” a former senior Afghan official said.
The developing Iran-Taliban alliance represents a new complication in Mr. Obama’s plans for both the Middle East and the future of Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been working to curb the Taliban’s role ahead of a planned withdrawal of all but 1,000 U.S. troops at the end of his presidency in 2016. At its peak in 2011 there were 100,000 U.S. troops.
The White House-supported international nuclear talks with Iran that are scheduled to finish this month face world-wide criticism for potentially setting up a new regional dynamic in which Tehran, unfettered by punitive economic sanctions and flush with new resources, would be able to pursue an activist agenda through its proxies in and around the Middle East. Tehran’s growing ties to the Taliban is another sign of that, these critics say.
Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Iran’s support to the Taliban could increase if a nuclear deal is signed and Iran wins sanction relief.
“Across the region, Iran is stepping up its support for militants and rebel groups,” Mr. Royce said. “With billions in sanctions relief coming, that support goes into overdrive.”
Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Iran’s increased support to the Taliban is a continuation of its aggressive behavior in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. “This is further evidence of the administration’s continued willful disregard for the facts on the ground in light of Iranian aggression in the region,” he said.
U.S. officials declined to comment specifically about closer Iran-Taliban ties, but have said that its diplomacy with Iran doesn’t alter its concerns about Iran’s destabilizing influence in the region. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a recent letter to lawmakers that Iran was the “foremost state sponsor of terrorism.”
The Taliban have long used Pakistani territory as their main recruiting base and headquarters. But Afghan and Western officials say Iran, through its elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, has emerged as an important ally for the Taliban.
What’s more, they say, Tehran is turning to Afghan immigrants within its borders—a tactic it has also used to find new recruits to fight in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
Mr. Abdullah is one of those Iranian-backed Taliban fighters. After being detained for working as an illegal laborer in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, Mr. Abdullah said he was approached by an Iranian intelligence officer.
“He asked me how much money I made, and that he would double my salary if I went to work for them in Afghanistan,” he said.
Mr. Abdullah said smugglers hired by Iran ferry supplies across the lawless borderlands where Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan meet and deliver them to Taliban units in Afghan territory. He said his fighters receive weapons that include 82mm mortars, light machine guns, AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and materials for making roadside bombs.
Military and intelligence officials see Iran’s support to the Taliban as an alliance of convenience. Historically, relations between Iran, a Shiite theocracy, and the hard-line Sunni Taliban have been fraught. Iran nearly went to war against the Taliban regime in 1998 after 10 of its diplomats were killed when their consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif was overrun.
Iran didn’t oppose the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, and it has since maintained friendly relations with the Western-backed government in Kabul.
But Iran has long been uneasy with the U.S. military presence on its doorstep, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps have been delivering weapons to the Taliban since at least 2007, according to an October 2014 report by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Iran’s alliance with the Taliban took a new turn in June 2013 when Tehran formally invited a Taliban delegation to participate in a conference on Islam and to meet senior Iranian officials.
By the fall of that year, Afghan security officials said they had clear evidence that Iran was training Taliban fighters within its borders. Tehran now operates at least four Taliban training camps, according to Afghan officials and Mr. Abdullah, the Taliban commander. They are in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Mashhad and Zahedan and in the province of Kerman.
“At the beginning Iran was supporting Taliban financially,” said a senior Afghan official. “But now they are training and equipping them, too.”
The drawdown of U.S. and allied troops has made it easier for Taliban fighters and smugglers to cross the porous border undetected. “In the past, the U.S. had significant surveillance capabilities,” said Sayed Wahid Qattali, an influential politician from the western city Herat, where Iran has long had influence. “But now that the Americans have left, Iran is a lot freer.”
Iran formalized its alliance with the Taliban by allowing the group to open an office in Mashhad, maintaining a presence there since at least the beginning of 2014, a foreign official said. The office has gained so much clout that some foreign officials are now referring to it as the “Mashhad Shura,” a term used to describe the Taliban’s leadership councils.
One of the main points of contact between Tehran and the insurgency is head of the Taliban’s Qatar-based political office, Tayeb Agha, Afghan and foreign officials said. His most recent trip to Iran was in mid-May, the insurgent group said. The Taliban deny they receive support from Iran or any other foreign country, but say they want good relations with Afghanistan’s neighbors.
Iran’s backing of the Taliban has a strategic rationale. Tehran is already battling Islamic State, also known as Daesh, in Syria and Iraq, and it is wary of a new front line emerging close to its eastern border, Afghan officials say.
“Iran seeks to counter Daesh with the Taliban,” said an Afghan security official.
For the Taliban, Islamic State militants represent a threat of a different kind: they are competitors. Since an offshoot of Islamic State announced plans to expand in Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this year, the new group has been actively recruiting fighters, many of whom are disaffected Taliban, say residents and Afghan officials.
This has pitted the two rival jihadist groups against each other, with clashes erupting between them in provinces including Helmand in the south, Nangarhar in the east and specifically involving Iran-backed Taliban in Farah, near Iran’s border, Afghan officials say.
Iranian funding gives more options to the militant group, support that is beginning to have an impact on the battlefield.
“If it wasn’t for Iran, I don’t think they would’ve been able to push an offensive like they are doing now,” said Antonio Giustozzi, a Taliban expert who has tracked Iran’s involvement in Afghanistan.
In recent months, security in Afghanistan’s west and north deteriorated sharply compared to last year, as Taliban fighters amassed in large numbers, testing the ability of Afghan troops to hold their ground.
It’s unclear, however, how far Iran will go to promote the Taliban.
“They wouldn’t want the Taliban to become too strong,” said a second foreign official. “They just want to make sure that they have some levers in their hands, because if the Taliban would win, God forbid, then they would lose all their leverage.”
WSJ


http://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-bac...rms-1434065528