An audio file attributed to the late commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud, is being circulating on social media in which he calls Iran “weak and a hypocrite”. Massoud’s views of Iran has been leaked two days after the transfer of affairs of the Afghan embassy to the Taliban.
In the audio file, Ahmad Shah Massoud talks about the perspective of regional countries regarding anti-Soviet Jihadi parties of Afghanistan.
Although the exact time of recording the audio file is not clear, it seems that this file has been recorded during the years of resistance against the first Taliban regime between 1994 and 2001.
Ahmad Shah Massoud, who seems to be giving a lecture to his aides, said that Hizb-e-Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is a favoured party for the government of Pakistan. He added that the Shia anti-Soviet jihadi parties are favoured by Iran, and the Dawat-e-Jihad party led by Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf and Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Hekmatyar are favoured by Saudi Arabia.
According to Ahmad Shah Masoud, the western countries do not trust Jamiat-e-Islami. He said that if they work and trust anyone it would be King Zaher Shah.
Zaher Shah had been living in Rome, the capital of Italy, when the audio tape had been recorded.
Massoud stressed that Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan did not have strong allies among the international community. He was a prominent member of Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan.
In the audio file, Massoud said that "among the foreign countries, only one partner remains, which is very weak, hypocritical and dubious, and that is the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He further added that the Iranian government "sometimes says yes and sometimes no”.
Massoud clarified, "The conversation of the Iranians was that we accept Jamiat as the leading party in Afghanistan's future issues, and we tell the Shiite parties to follow Jamiat."
In his discussion, Ahmad Shah Massoud expressed doubts about the promise of the Islamic Republic and said, "I don't know how sincere they are in these statements."
Leaking this audio file belonging to Ahmad Shah Massoud, 22 years after his assassination could be a sign of the deteriorating relations between the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, had previously criticised the Islamic Republic of Iran's hand over of the Afghan embassy to the Taliban in an unprecedented manner.
In a statement, the Front called the handover of Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban questionable.
