LAHORE: As NATO troops in Afghanistan have begun intercepting sophisticated Iranian arms bound for the Taliban, US, NATO and Afghan officials are growing more concerned about Iranian policy in Afghanistan, says a Knight Ridder report.ItÂ’s long been conventional wisdom that Iran would do nothing to destabilise Afghan President Hamid KarzaiÂ’s shaky government or aid the Taliban, against whom Iran nearly went to war with in 1998. The Taliban obtains the lionÂ’s share of its weapons and other aid from the proceeds of opium trafficking and from supporters in Pakistan and Arab nations, the report says.
The recent seizures of Iranian arms by British troops in AfghanistanÂ’s war-torn southern Helmand province are challenging that assumption, however.