Thursday, May 10 5:16 PM SGT
AFP
No evidence Tehran implicated in Afghan blast: Taliban FM
KABUL, May 10 (AFP) - Taliban officials have found no evidence
Iran was involved in a deadly blast outside a mosque in western
Herat, Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said Thursday,
adding ties would normalise soon.
Iran is sending a delegation to Herat to examine the damage caused
to its consulate by an angry mob after Friday's blast, he said.
"This is not a high-level delegation. It is coming to see the
condition of the consulate," Mutawakel told a news
conference.
"We hope with the arrival of this delegation our relations
will become normal."
Ten people including an exiled Iranian Sunni Muslim scholar Moussa
Karimpour were killed and 30 injured when a bomb exploded outside
a mosque in Herat, triggering violent protests in the city.
Herat governor Khairullah Khairkhwa immediately accused Iranian
"agents" of carrying out the bombing while the Taliban
foreign ministry later said Iranian "hardliners" were
responsible.
Iran has recalled its diplomats and closed the mission, partially
damaged in the attack and arson.
Mutawakel said the Taliban believed Iranian hardliners were behind
the blast, but there were no evidence to directly accuse the
Iranian government.
"We have no hard evidence to show that the Iranian government
was involved," he said.
He said an investigation into the blast was in progress and a
number of suspects had been arrested, but he did not elaborate.
Muttawakil said the Taliban regime believed in good neighbourly
relations with all and believed it important to normalize its ties
with Tehran which shelters a large number of Afghan refugees.
"Naturally, Iran is our neighbour which helped us during the
years of jihad (holy war) and has accommodated our refugees,"
he said.
"We have no problem with them (Iran) though they support and
recognize our opponents," he added.
Tehran, which follows the Shiite branch of Islam, does not
recognize the Taliban regime, which now holds most of Afghanistan.
The Sunni Islamic militia is fighting opposition groups headed by
the ex-president Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose ousted government is
recognized by Iran.
Tehran-Taliban relations plunged to their lowest ebb in 1998 when
Iran massed thousands of troops close to the borders and
threatened to invade Afghanistan after 10 diplomats and one
Iranian journalist were killed in the wake of the Taliban's
capture of northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.