Tehran, Iran, Oct. 31
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Tehran has denied a claim that alleges a relation between the terrorist group Taliban and Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the claim is “a pre-meditated attempt by Taliban’s sponsors with the aim to spread Iranophobia,” IRIB news agency reported Oct. 31.
A day earlier Al Arabiya claimed that Mullah Zabihullah, a spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan, had “revealed” the group’s relations and new networks with the Islamic Republic.
“The movement is trying to benefit from all legitimate means to reach a regional agreement as part of the war against the American invasion... [and] holds ongoing networks with a large number of regional and neighboring states,” Al Arabiya cited Zabihullah as saying.
In his response Qassemi said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always had a pioneering role among regional countries in the fight against terrorist groups, and has so far sustained much material and immaterial costs in the fight against those groups.”
The claim that Iran is supporting the Taliban group is “an obvious lie,” he stressed.