![Members of the Taliban's negotiating team are seen February 1 during a news conference in Tehran. [Fars News]](/cnmi_st/images/2021/07/08/30592-taliban_in_tehran_-_2-739_416.webp)
For months leading up to Wednesday (July 7)'s meeting between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Tehran, the Iranian regime has been busy trying to reshape the image of the Taliban.
The meeting had a positive outcome. Both sides agreed that "war was not the solution" and to meet again to discuss a wide range of outstanding issues.
Yet while the Taliban delegation talked about prospects of peace, the reality on the ground is quite different.
On the same day of the Tehran meeting, Taliban fighters attempted to capture a provincial capital, the first time the militant group had done so since signing a peace agreement last year.
For weeks and months prior, the Taliban have been waging a relentless offensive across all of Afghanistan, displacing tens of thousands of civilians, burning homes, and looting businesses.
Tehran, which has grown closer to the Taliban in recent years and supports them with weapons, intelligence and training, has been attempting to spin the militant group's violent nature.
In a most recent example, a June 25 editorial in Kayhan, a daily whose stances are aligned with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, argued the Taliban "don't behead individuals anymore" as one of the reasons why the militant group is "not the group we once knew".
Hossein Shariatmadari, Kayhan's editor-in-chief and publisher, is a close confidant of Khamenei.
The editorial focused on "the change in the Taliban's tactics and behaviour", alleging that they "no longer commit crimes against the Afghan Shia population", and "are not even at odds with the Afghan Shia".
Such a view will come as a surprise to Hazaras who have long suffered persecution by the Taliban and are fighting -- with arms and through education -- to protect the gains they made after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.
Afghans would also point to crimes committed by the Taliban, such as the public flogging of a young woman in Herat, the group's brutal execution of a young couple in Ghor, and the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in Jawzjan, to name a few recent examples.
Charm offensive
Years ago, Iranian officials routinely denounced the Taliban's atrocities, describing them as barbaric, inhumane and un-Islamic.
But as it has become increasingly clear that Tehran actively supported the militant group with money, arms and training -- with the aim of undermining the Afghan government, its independence and its economic success -- this rhetoric shifted.
Just last month, Afghan military sources confirmed that members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been leading the Taliban in Afghanistan's western region and providing advanced weapons -- including night vision equipment, lethal bombs and heavy weaponry -- to the militant group.
Also in June, a senior official said the commander of a seven-member Taliban cell received direct orders from the IRGC to attack and assassinate members of security forces.
During a February visit to Tehran, the Taliban delegation enjoyed an effusive welcome.
While Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif personally greeted the Taliban representatives, the new-found public warmth towards them caused surprise and anguish among many in Iran and Afghanistan.
The delegation, led by Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, conferred on various matters with both Zarif and Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Tehran described the visit and talks as a mediation effort, an attempt to bring the Taliban closer to the Afghan government, and a demonstration of neighbourliness toward Afghanistan.
But the reality was much different. Part of the new charm offensive was related to a practical exchange between the two sides: Iranian officials pledged their support to the Taliban in exchange for receiving water from Afghanistan.
The pro-Taliban rhetoric has seemingly seeped into some Iran's IRGC-affiliated media as well.
Following a backlash from the majority of Iranian media outlets against Kayhan's editoral, Hessam Razavi, an editorial board member of Tasnim News -- which is affiliated with the IRGC -- stated in an interview that he is "warning" that "there is no war between the Taliban and the Afghan Shia community."
Observers found the phrasing, particularly the word "warning", bizarre amid apparent efforts to purportedly convey a message of peace.
Iran has been interfering in Afghanistan’s affairs for 40 years under various pretexts, and all the people of Afghanistan are aware of this. Death to Iran.
Reply9 Comment
After Pakistan, Iran will turn into a very dangerous enemy to Afghanistan. If Iranian interferences are not prevented, Afghanistan will once again become a battleground for sectarian strife, especially between Shiites and Sunnis.
Reply9 Comment
Iran's influence has never been and is good for Afghanistan. Iran is a dictatorial country in the region. In addition to supporting warlike groups in Afghanistan, Iran has worked hard to impose its culture on Afghanistan. Dozens of media outlets in Afghanistan are being funded by Iran and they are working for Iran’s influence in Afghanistan. The Afghan government must prevent Iran's influence in Afghanistan and identify that country's spies in Afghanistan and bring them to justice so that no one could dare to spy for Iran in Afghanistan.
Reply9 Comment
This time, Taliban have decided to capture four Northeastern provinces of Afghanistan: Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz and Baghlan with the order they received from Iran; therefore, over the past one month, the group has intensified its attacks in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, and Iran provides them with financial and military cooperation. Now the situation of Takhar is worse than that of south which is always a restive zone. Taliban target Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and Afghan Local Police forces in Takhar every day. People strictly ask the government to tighten security in this province. The government should try to retake all the districts of Takhar Province that Taliban captured.
Reply9 Comment
Iran has been supporting criminal groups, such as jihadi groups or Taliban in Afghanistan directly and indirectly for many years, and has always stimulated them against the Afghan government because Iran is a criminal and dictator country in the region and has a large influence in Afghanistan. No one can raise their voice against Iran in Afghanistan because Iran's intelligence has penetrated in all dimensions among Afghan politicians who have introduced Iran as a friendly country and have always hide the anti-human crimes committed by Iran in Afghanistan.
Reply9 Comment
Where do Taliban receive all the money and facilities from? Are they being supported by Pakistan alone? I don't think Pakistan can provide all the facilities to the group. There are numerous other countries that provide financial and military support to Taliban. All the Arab countries want Taliban to restore the Islamic Emirate again in this country. So if the Arab countries do not help Taliban, I don't think the group can continue their war against the Afghan government for only one week. There is military and financial cooperation of Iran with Taliban as the group is very powerful.
Reply9 Comment
In general, we are Muslims. Those who consult with the infidels are from them because the Holy Quran says, do not make friendship with the infidels.
Reply9 Comment
In short, all have given hands to each other to shed the blood of the innocent people of Afghanistan.
Reply9 Comment
We trust neither the Shia and hypocrite regime of Iran nor the terrorist-training regime and intelligence [agencies] of Pakistan. Both of them are the enemies of Afghans and Afghanistan. Both the Afghan government and Taliban should sit together to the table of negotiations in Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat, … inside Afghanistan, hold talks, hit each other with bottles, hit each other with shoes, insult each other, fight with each other, speak for a week, two weeks, a month and two months. Still, they should solve the issues because the ongoing fighting kills only Afghans and Muslims. This fighting which Pakistani intelligence agencies actually begin, and now Iran also supports it. It is completely a loss for Afghanistan. Iran and Pakistan want the blood to be shed in Afghanistan, and the Afghan water flows for free to their countries.
Reply9 Comment