Tehran’s Taliban Policy Has Brought Terror To The Capital, Says Iranian Daily
The Tehran-based daily Jomhouri-e Eslami has sharply criticised Iran’s approach toward the Taliban, saying flawed policies have allowed terrorism to reach Tehran.
The Tehran-based daily Jomhouri-e Eslami has sharply criticised Iran’s approach toward the Taliban, saying flawed policies have allowed terrorism to reach Tehran.
In a Saturday editorial, the newspaper cited the assassination of Ikramuddin Sari in Tehran as evidence of what it described as a series of “strategic mistakes” by Iran’s responsible institutions in dealing with the Taliban. It said the killing showed that terrorists had been able to penetrate Tehran’s security environment.
The editorial said Iran’s intelligence and security agencies are now facing a complex plot that must be uncovered and countered. It stressed that it is unacceptable for a group claiming friendly relations with the Iranian government to carry out assassinations on Iranian soil in order to silence its opponents.
According to the newspaper, the Iranian government must respond decisively. It argued that the most effective step would be to “cut off the influence of the self-proclaimed Taliban government in Iran.”
The paper also criticised what it called mistakes in Iran’s engagement with the Taliban, including the transfer of Afghan political representations in Iran to the group. It described the Taliban as a “terrorist group” whose promises cannot be trusted.
The editorial cited the assassinations in Mashhad and Tehran, the Taliban’s refusal to grant Iran its water rights, restrictions imposed on Iranian institutions in Afghanistan, and the group’s treatment of Persian speakers and Shia communities as evidence supporting its claims.
The newspaper further argued that the lack of transparency surrounding the killings of Ikramuddin Sari in Tehran and Marouf Gholami in Mashhad appeared aimed at concealing the incidents so that, in its words, “the Taliban’s credibility would not be damaged.”
Jomhouri-e Eslami said Iran must swiftly correct these mistakes and sever the influence of what it described as the Taliban’s domestic supporters, adding that only such measures could prevent the continuation of “Taliban plots in Iran.”
Ikramuddin Sari, a former police commander of Takhar and Baghlan provinces, was assassinated on Wednesday, December 24, in Tehran near his workplace. The killing sparked widespread reactions among Afghan political figures.
However, three days after the incident, Iran’s police and security authorities have neither officially confirmed nor denied that the assassination took place. Several Iranian media outlets have criticised what they described as official silence, saying it has fuelled uncertainty and speculation.
