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Are the Taliban and Iran teaming up to stop IS?
Are the Taliban and Iran teaming up to stop IS?
Author Arash Karami Posted June 6, 2016
An article on hard-line Iranian news website Jahan has confirmed for the first time that the recently killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was in Iran before he was killed May 21. While Iranian media had previously confirmed meetings with Taliban officials, the article shows a deeper strategic shift in Iran toward a group it previously helped topple in order to counter the rising threat of the Islamic State (IS) on its eastern border.
An article on the Jahan news website reported that the former Taliban leader who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan had met with Iranian officials one week before he was killed.
According to the article, Mansour was in Iran one week before he was killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. Mansour had reportedly spent two months in Iran and conducted “various negotiations with different organizations and institutions.”
Jahan reported that one of the agreements between Iran and Mansour was “the prevention of Taliban bodies from joining [IS].” Iran and Mansour had also reportedly agreed to prevent the spread of IS influence in northern Afghanistan and on the Afghan-Tajikistan border. There had also been agreements to counter drug smuggling. A large percentage of Afghanistan’s opium production is either consumed in Iran or travels through Iran to its final destination in Europe.
The article reported that “there is no specific information” on how Mansour was targeted and denied reports that Iran was somehow involved. The article rather speculated that Mansour’s “semi-independence” from Pakistan could have displeased some members of its spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and they may have given Mansour’s location to the United States.
Jahan’s motivation for publishing the article and revealing previously unconfirmed information cannot be known. Political motivations or even disinformation should not be ruled out. However, it is a startling admission given the history between Iran and the Taliban.
Iran has historically been the main sponsor of the Taliban’s previous domestic rival, the Northern Alliance. In 1998, Iran nearly went to war against the Taliban government after their diplomats were killed in Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan. Iran had even offered assistance in the overthrow of the Taliban during the 2001 US invasion. Iran also has a positive relationship with Afghanistan’s central government, recently inking a trilateral transit route with the country.
But the rise of IS on both sides of Iran’s borders has turned a strategic rival into a tactical ally. A former official in the Barack Obama administration told Al-Monitor correspondent Barbara Slavin that Iran’s “estimate of the threat of [IS] in Afghanistan is higher than that of the United States.”
This tactical relationship is still far from being open or confirmed by Iranian officials. After Mansour was killed, anonymous US and European officials told the Western press that Mansour was in Iran possibly for medical reasons, to visit his family or to meet with Iranian officials. At that time, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said, “The officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran deny that such a person on such a date entered Pakistan from Iran’s borders.” Either Ansari was not in the know or he was intentionally deceptive over the fact that Mansour was traveling under a forged Pakistani passport under the name of Mohammad Wali.
Iranian media had previously reported on meetings with Taliban officials, though revealed less information on the content of the meetings. In May 2015, it was reported that a Taliban delegation from the group’s political office in Qatar had traveled to Tehran. Tayyeb Agha, who was the head of the Taliban’s political wing in Qatar when the visit took place, reportedly led the delegation’s meeting with Iranian security officials. Tasnim News Agency, which broke that story, wrote that Taliban officials had previously visited Iran on two occasions to meet with security officials and for an Islamic conference in Tehran.
Are the Taliban and Iran teaming up to stop IS?
Author Arash Karami Posted June 6, 2016
An article on hard-line Iranian news website Jahan has confirmed for the first time that the recently killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was in Iran before he was killed May 21. While Iranian media had previously confirmed meetings with Taliban officials, the article shows a deeper strategic shift in Iran toward a group it previously helped topple in order to counter the rising threat of the Islamic State (IS) on its eastern border.
An article on the Jahan news website reported that the former Taliban leader who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan had met with Iranian officials one week before he was killed.
According to the article, Mansour was in Iran one week before he was killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. Mansour had reportedly spent two months in Iran and conducted “various negotiations with different organizations and institutions.”
Jahan reported that one of the agreements between Iran and Mansour was “the prevention of Taliban bodies from joining [IS].” Iran and Mansour had also reportedly agreed to prevent the spread of IS influence in northern Afghanistan and on the Afghan-Tajikistan border. There had also been agreements to counter drug smuggling. A large percentage of Afghanistan’s opium production is either consumed in Iran or travels through Iran to its final destination in Europe.
The article reported that “there is no specific information” on how Mansour was targeted and denied reports that Iran was somehow involved. The article rather speculated that Mansour’s “semi-independence” from Pakistan could have displeased some members of its spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and they may have given Mansour’s location to the United States.
Jahan’s motivation for publishing the article and revealing previously unconfirmed information cannot be known. Political motivations or even disinformation should not be ruled out. However, it is a startling admission given the history between Iran and the Taliban.
Iran has historically been the main sponsor of the Taliban’s previous domestic rival, the Northern Alliance. In 1998, Iran nearly went to war against the Taliban government after their diplomats were killed in Mazar-i Sharif, Afghanistan. Iran had even offered assistance in the overthrow of the Taliban during the 2001 US invasion. Iran also has a positive relationship with Afghanistan’s central government, recently inking a trilateral transit route with the country.
But the rise of IS on both sides of Iran’s borders has turned a strategic rival into a tactical ally. A former official in the Barack Obama administration told Al-Monitor correspondent Barbara Slavin that Iran’s “estimate of the threat of [IS] in Afghanistan is higher than that of the United States.”
This tactical relationship is still far from being open or confirmed by Iranian officials. After Mansour was killed, anonymous US and European officials told the Western press that Mansour was in Iran possibly for medical reasons, to visit his family or to meet with Iranian officials. At that time, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said, “The officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran deny that such a person on such a date entered Pakistan from Iran’s borders.” Either Ansari was not in the know or he was intentionally deceptive over the fact that Mansour was traveling under a forged Pakistani passport under the name of Mohammad Wali.
Iranian media had previously reported on meetings with Taliban officials, though revealed less information on the content of the meetings. In May 2015, it was reported that a Taliban delegation from the group’s political office in Qatar had traveled to Tehran. Tayyeb Agha, who was the head of the Taliban’s political wing in Qatar when the visit took place, reportedly led the delegation’s meeting with Iranian security officials. Tasnim News Agency, which broke that story, wrote that Taliban officials had previously visited Iran on two occasions to meet with security officials and for an Islamic conference in Tehran.
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