By Reza Shafa
The Research and Studies Center of the Iranian regime’s foreign ministry forwarded a confidential report to the clerical regime’s parliament (Majlis), which outlines the situation in Afghanistan and the regime’s policies there.
The confidential report contains guidelines for various institutions within the regime. It first points to the status of the Afghan government and American policies, saying:
“Afghanistan’s political developments must be seriously and closely followed and the arrangement of political forces and potential candidates for elections must be reviewed and monitored.”
The mullahs’ foreign ministry has recommended that the use of news reports must not be done in a way that counts as support for the Karzai government, but should nonetheless “highlight crimes of American forces in Afghanistan.” For example, it says that distribution of arms by the Americans to tribes must be strongly criticized because the formation of such groups is dangerous.
Another part of the foreign ministry’s report says:
“There was a roadmap formulated during the tenure of [Perviz] Musharraf, former Pakistani President, by Britain, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, calling to direct the extremist movement to Afghanistan. But, now, Americans have reached the conclusion that the main problem is Pakistan and not Saudi Arabia. On the basis of defining American interests, the US is concentrating on Pakistan. As such, the American perspective regarding Pakistan is at odds with the British viewpoint. We must exploit this divergence.”
The Iranian regime’s position on proposals from Afghan and American officials and commanders to negotiate with the Taliban is also worthy of consideration. In the same confidential report from the clerical regime’s foreign ministry to its Majlis, it is said:
“We must note that if negotiations with the Taliban are not on the basis of the constitution and elected institutions, then we must not consider it as negotiations between the government and the Taliban. This would be called negotiations between the Taliban and Karzai. To solve the Afghan crisis, the Americans have initiated a multi-faceted approach. In addition to stressing on negotiations with the Taliban, the US is also putting pressure on the EU to increase its forces in Afghanistan. The US is trying to manage the crisis in Afghanistan. As such, our declaration of Iran’s position regarding the negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government must not be so plain and open.”
The Iranian regime is vehemently opposed to such negotiations and its goal is to try to maintain the unstable and chaotic situation in order to lay the groundwork for exporting terrorism, fundamentalism, and increased meddling in Afghanistan.
Another part of the clerical regime’s confidential foreign ministry report says:
“The US prefers to negotiate with Iran over Afghanistan. But, despite America’s interest in such negotiations with Iran, it has not indicated its resolve to do so, and Iran is not willing to discuss various issues in one place.”
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Reza Shafa is an expert on the Iranian regime's Intelligence networks, both in Iran and abroad. He has done extensive research on Iranian Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) also known as VEVAK, Intelligence Office of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Qods Force among others. Currently he is a contributor to NCRI website.
