US, Iranian Cooperation

["Brad Hernlem" <alihernlem@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

US, Iranian military advisers work side by side in Afghanistan [Corrected 
11/12/01]
Maxim Kniazkov


11/12/2001 Agence France-Presse

CORRECTION: ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, details, background

WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (AFP) - US and Iranian military advisers are working side 
by side with Afghan opposition forces trying to bring down the hard-line 
Taliban government, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed Sunday.
He also said Iran, listed by the US State Department as a state sponsor of 
terrorism, is certain to have a role in shaping Afghanistan's post-Taliban 
government, together with the United States.


Rumsfeld, who appeared on the CBS "Face the Nation" television show, said 
the Iranian government has people in Afghanistan, who are working "with some 
of the elements" of Afghan opposition on the ground.
"Indeed, we also have people working with those same elements," the defense 
secretary pointed out. "There are places in that country where there are 
some Iranian liaison people as well as some American liaison people."

Rumsfeld stopped short of providing any details. But he said that as a 
nation bordering Afghanistan, Iran has "a legitimate interest in what 
happens in that country" and can influence events on Afghan soil.

"And certainly they're going to be a player in what that new government 
looks like because they have an interest in that, as do the people in that 
country," Rumsfeld said.

Pentagon spokesman Major Tim Blair said had no information on how many 
Iranian military advisers were working with opposition forces in northern 
Afghanistan or whether US special forces aiding the same groups had been in 
direct contact with the Iranians.

But he told AFP that "it makes sense they are a part of this because they 
are from the same region."

Iran has had historic ties to Afghanistan's Hazara minority, who follow 
Shi'a Islam and speak a dialect of Farsi. They are estimated to be six 
million strong.

The Hazara-based militia Hezb-i-Wahdat is an important partner of the 
Northern Alliance, whose forces have just captured Mazar-i- Sharif and are 
pressing ahead with their offensive against the Taliban government.

Iran recognizes Northern Alliance leader Burhanuddin Rabbani as president of 
Afghanistan and has maintained formal ties with the group through a 
consulate in the northeastern town of Taloqan, according to Afghan 
opposition officials.

A longtime player in Afghan politics, Tehran has provided the Northern 
Alliance with thousands of anti-personnel mines now being laid in Badghis 
province and the Bala Murghab areas, the Federation of American Scientists 
reported.

According to US officials, the September 11 attacks on the United States and 
their condemnation by Tehran have opened new opportunities for the two 
countries looking for a way to improve relations since the 1979 break-up 
following the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran by Islamic 
revolutionaries.

For the first time, Iran has opened its territory for movement of US 
humanitarian aid to refugees from northern Afghanistan, according to US and 
UN officials.

Addressing the UN General Assembly Saturday, Iranian President Mohammad 
Khatami spoke of "the concordance between the peoples of the United States 
and Iran."

Rumsfeld said he found these comments "encouraging."

"I find a number of things encouraging," he added.

But he said he was not sure how events in Iran will evolve in the near 
future.

"There's a dynamic taking place among the younger people and the women and 
the more extreme Islamic fundamentalists in that nation, as opposed to 
elements that are not interested in that particular approach to the world," 
he said. "How it'll shake out, I don't know."


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