"We have successfully interdicted a flow of arms from across the Iranian border into Afghanistan," Defense Secretary Des Browne said in Parliament in response to questions. There were "markings on weaponry suggesting they are of Iranian origin."
While the U.S. and Britain have long cited evidence of Iranian interference in Iraq, its Western neighbor, the suggestion of cooperation with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which lies to its east, are new. Iran granted over-flight rights to the U.S. Air Force during its attack on Afghanistan in 2001, in line with the country’s traditional policy of opposing the Taliban.
The U.S. government first began indicating Iranian support for the Taliban this year, suggesting that Iran had abandoned its traditional policy of opposing the Taliban.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Kabul on June 4 that weapons of Iranian origin were turning up in Afghanistan, adding that it wasn’t clear whether the Iranian government was behind the shipments.
Browne echoed that qualifier today, though he said the Iranian government must assume responsibility for the flow of arms out of its own country.
"Because of the complex nature of the Iranian regime, it is quite often difficult to identify how this came about or who in that regime may be responsible for it," Browne told Parliament. Even so, the government "must take responsibility."
The accusations come as the U.S. and its European allies are imposing sanctions on Iran in a bid to convince the country’s leadership to halt its nuclear program, which they say is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon.