Hekmatyar’s remarks expose Iranian influence in Afghanistan
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat at his residence in Kabul, Hekmatyar said that Afghanistan was the country that was most harmed by Iran, which is paying funds to keep the war in Afghanistan going.
He also stressed that the United States did not achieve any of its goals in Afghanistan, however, Iran was the one that took the most advantage of the situation in Afghanistan more than any other country.
Hekmatyar further revealed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has established a base inside of the Presidential Palace in Kabul, pointing out to the Iranian manipulations in interference in forming the government and state authorities.
He also pointed out that Arab did not sustain interest in Afghanistan, the matter which was in Iran’s favor.
Hekmatyar’s remarks affirmed Iran’s role in supporting Taliban and influencing decision making in Afghanistan, not to mention the relation with Hazara Shiites, who are being recruited into Liwa Fatemiyoun (Fatimid Banner), an Afghan Shia militia known as “Hezbollah in Afghanistan.”
The United States, the UAE and its five fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member states in October sanctioned nine individuals who have aided Iranian support to the Taliban in Afghanistan or held senior roles in the militant group.
Members of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre (TFTC), which includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and USA, designated the nine individuals as terrorist actors or supporters of terrorism, including Mohammad Ebrahim Owhadi and Esma’il Razavi.
Those sanctioned include members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, accused of supporting Taliban fighters in a bid to destabilise the Western-backed Afghan government. The designations also include top Taliban figures involved in suicide attacks and other lethal activities.
Iran also supported the idea of forming and training Shiite militias in Afghanistan for many reasons that include confronting the Soviet invasion along with Sunni influence in the Afghani scene.
Moreover, Tehran supported the establishment of the Unity Party of Afghanistan in 1989, a party deeply rooted in the turbulent period of the anti-Soviet resistance movements in Afghanistan in the 1980s and is considered the representative of Shiism in Afghanistan.
As for Daesh in Afghanistan, Hekmatyar said they did not come from Iraq and Syria, as they are former Taliban members who dissented from the terrorist group and changed their banners.
He also suggests that resolving the crisis is in the hands of Taliban and the Afghani government, pointing out that the organization cannot just get excluded from the scene in Afghanistan. “The Americans did not gain or achieve any of their goals, they did not end the Islamic Party, and they will not be able to eliminate Taliban.
In an interview with The Reference, political analyst Mohamed Benaya said Iran is seeking to control Afghanistan through infiltrating the elite and the presidential palace in Kabul through buying loyalties and controlling the Hazara Shiites.
Benaya further demanded Arab states to play a strong role in the Afghani scene and not leave it to Iran, due to Afghanistan’s significance in encountering and limiting the Iranian influence in the country.
