Iran says it funds Afghan government

The incestuous world of Mid East politics and shenanigans takes another twist today as we learn that both the US and Iran are funding the fledgling Afghanistan government.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran acknowledged Tuesday that it has been sending funds to neighboring Afghanistan for years, saying the money was intended to aid reconstruction of the embattled country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday that he receives millions of dollars in cash from Iran, adding that Washington gives him "bags of money" too because his office lacks funds. U.S. officials said the money flowing from Tehran was further proof that Iran is playing a double game in Afghanistan - wooing the government while helping Taliban insurgents who are fighting U.S. and NATO forces.

Source

In my opinion this is another in a series of fast moving "events" which is pointing towards some sort of action against Iran.

Even if I am wrong in my assessment it is a travesty that the best we could do with Afghanistan is to replace the Taliban with an even more structured and connected regime with a negative stance towards the west.

"Bags of money form the US"... it just keeps ringing in my head...

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide


yo heff

good find man good find

Iran acknowledged Tuesday it has been sending funds to neighboring Afghanistan for years, but said the money was intended to aid reconstruction, not to buy influence in the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

that money was intended to help kill americans and buy karazai off everyone knows the man is corrupt as they come.

karazai is as low as they come hes playing both sides agianst the other as long as the cash comes he really could careless

there are many countries with their hands in afghanistan its nice to see the truth come out to light.

iran,saudi arabia,china,pakistan all of them are there they have been there since the 80s.

and i for one dont see how the us can take them all on for 9 years we already have been and with no end in sight.

heff man nothing is going to be done to iran for the next 2 years and if obama wins another term thats another 4 years.

with the us military still in iraq and afghanistan there will be no new front meaning iran opened up.

watch the politics man that is key as long was the left control this country americans can and will be killed and have been killed and there will be no retaliation for iran,

thats my call feel free to disagree.

peace

Iran first denied they did this and then once the cat was out of the bag they admit to it.

Got to wonder why they would deny sending them money in the first place.

and now we know where the influence came
from to blacklist security contractors.
That had to have pee'd off
the CIA.

Some really interesting aspects of this from different cultural standpoints...

Xinhuanet... The Chinese news says the following:

TEHRAN, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran has given financial assistance to Afghanistan and the aid went to Afghanistan's infrastructure reconstruction, said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast.

As a neighbor, Iran will continue its assistance to Afghanistan, said Mehmanparast at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

He called on the friendly countries of Afghanistan to help the war-torn country restore its economy and speed up reconstruction.

Source : Xinhuanet

From India:

Iran on Tuesday acknowledged it provided Afghanistan with “assistance” for the reconstruction of its war-ravaged economy after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government received bags of cash from Tehran.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a neighbouring government is deeply concerned about Afghanistan's stability, and has given much assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast during his regular briefing in Tehran.

Source : The Hindu

From Iran:

On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the financial aid to Afghanistan is intended to help reconstruct the neighboring country, adding Iran will continue its assistance to Afghanistan.

However, Ansari said the news has fanned the flames of rumors how the money is spent in Afghanistan.

He also stated that Mottaki should brief lawmakers how the money is spent in Afghanistan.

Although Iran has provided some aid to Afghanistan, the assistance has never been in the form of cash and that Iran has never directly given money to the Afghan president’s chief of staff, the lawmaker noted.

Source : The Tehran Times

It is interesting to note, and to point out here that the Iranian article is very rational, soundly stated, and devoid of all of the rhetoric that one might expect to find in an article about such a heated topic. Not the behavior of a villainous regime, in my opinion.

Another Iranian source, which, interestingly also goes out of it's way to speak to us, in the west, about the veracity of Wikileaks....

"The Islamic Republic of Iran as a neighboring country to Afghanistan has helped much for reconstruction of the country, unlike countries which spent great deal of money to kill Afghan people under the excuse of 9/11 and destabilized the region."

Also regarding documents released by WikiLeaks website and allegations raised by the website against Iran, Mehmanparast said, "there are serious doubts against goals of the website, contents of its texts are ostensibly published independently, but pursue doubtful aims."

He said WikiLeaks documents and claims are no more confirmed by Iranian authorities.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman then warned, "we will confront such misconducts and we will not confirm them anymore."

Source : Iranians Students News Agency

So, in a slight self-thread derail... those who are using Iran as a means of touting Wikileaks are going to have to find a new rational - as apparently even Iran is skeptical of what is going on with Mr. Assange.

From Turkey:

Although Iran's Ambassador to Afghanistan Feda Hussein Maliki refuted the paper's claims, President Hamid Karzai said Iran provides a 500-600 million euros of cash assistance to Afghanistan once or sometimes twice a year. Karzai made this statement during the news conference in Tajikistan on Oct. 25. He stated that the funds are provided on the legal basis and within the framework of the Iran-Afghanistan cooperation.

Source : The Journal of Turkish Weekly

And back to India:

Washington: The White House has said it does not indulge in cash transactions in Afghanistan and all its assistance to the war-torn country is accountable to the Congress, after Afghan President Hamid Karzai had said that he received "bags of cash" from Iran and the US.

"We provide assistance and aid to the Afghan government through a fairly well-established developmental aid program. We're not in the big bags of cash business," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily news conference.

"The United States provides assistance through US aid and development programs. We provide aid through a process that's appropriated through Congress, goes through steps and helps in a series of development projects and improves democracy and governance," he said.

Karzai had acknowledged on Monday that he receives millions of dollars in cash from Iran. But he added that Washington gives him "bags of cash" too because his office lacks funds.

Source : NDTV

And finally back to the good old US MSM:

The US government says it is suspicious of Iran's intentions towards Afghanistan... But US state department spokesman PJ Crowley says the US is suspicious of Iran's intentions...

"But we should still certainly be concerned, because there is a fundamental difference between money which is on the books, accounted for and acknowledged, which many countries are providing, and money which is off the books, unaccountable, and generally provided by intelligence agencies." said former deputy envoy for the European Union to Afghanistan, Michael Semple

Source : ABC

I checked other nations but they tend to fall into these two camps... The west universally "passively suspicious" and the east universally with a "It's neighbor helping neighbor".

Oddly the words "political influence" are universally avoided or dismissed by all.

I continue to find this whole story highly interesting and very puzzling. It's almost as if the US and Iran could be, ummm, serving a common master maybe?

Playing a slight game of chess that neither is too concerned about?

Letting China dictate policy as it this her backyard?

There are a lot of "if"s here and the answers are still to vague, at least for me, to put the pieces all together in anyway that makes sense.

~Heff

reply to post by neo96


Hey Neo!

Great to see you and I have to say, I don't feel a need to disagree at all! Well other than to mention that war, these days, is a pretty non-partisan issue.

I am planning on spending my night researching western businesses in Iran. I hate to say it but I think the deciding factor, for me in this, is the following:

If there are Mcdonalds and Wal Marts in Tehran - then this might all be a total smokescreen. Because, in the long run, "US interests" are corporate ones. We don't tend to invade, harass, or otherwise mess with nations that allow us to build Starbucks.

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide


Maybe they are both working for the same thing from opposite ends. If I remember correctly we installed the current government in IRAN. It would only make sense that they work for us.

reply to post by Hefficide

He added that the United States, just like Iran, gave him cash. “They do give us bags of money. Yes, yes they do. It’s all the same. So let’s not make this an issue.”

its an issue for me what tangible evidence can be seen in regards to the economy and infrastructure. other than both countries are lining karzais pocket while afghanis suffer.

the evidence to date has shown arms and explosive shipments into afghanistan so im not buying they are helping afghanistan they are helping themselves to the area need to run a pipleline through afghanistan into pakistan.

and the vast mineral resources that have recently been found means iran is seeking the rights to develop said resources.

there is nothing innocent about irans activities in afghanistan not in the least.

theres another thread on this site about how now kazarai is saying us contractors are behind the terrorist activities inside afghanistan now with the added information that iran has been there the whole time well picture becomes increasingly clear.

iran is using afghanistan and it gets to kill americans its mortal enemy along the way right along side with pakistan.

Originally posted by ExPostFacto
If I remember correctly we installed the current government in IRAN. It would only make sense that they work for us.

Not quite. The current Government of Iran came about after a revolution against the regime that was installed by the CIA/MI6, the Shar. I believe that was called Operation Ajax or something, I'd recommend looking it up.

Also, as for the OP, I reckon Karzai's comment of "bags of cash" is merely just a turn of phrase. For example, on payday I could say I have "bags of money", even though I don't physically have sacks of notes lying round the house. One shouldn't read too much into this and assume this is "off the books" cash in dusty suitcases, as the US official was quoted in one of the articles.

It should be interesting if Iran's Parliament does get briefed on where this money went, what it was used for etc and if we then hear about it.

reply to post by stumason


So that explains why we hate them. We are against the freedom of another nation, and want our own government installed.