Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, today said that the US is playing a "double game" in Afghanistan, fighting the terrorists it once supported.
During a visit to the Afghan capital, Mr Ahmadinejad was asked to respond to comments made by Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary in which he accused Tehran of "playing a double game" by trying to have a good relationship with the Afghan government while undermining US and Nato efforts by providing some support to the Taliban.
Tehran has said it supports the Afghan government and denies allegations that it helps the Taliban. Iran calls the accusation part of a broad anti-Iranian campaign and says it makes no sense that its Shiite-led government would help the fundamentalist Sunni movement of the Taliban.
"I believe that they themselves," who are now fighting militants in Afghanistan, "are playing a double game," he said. "They themselves created terrorists and now they're saying that they are fighting terrorists."
During the 10 years the that the Soviet Union fought in Afghanistan, the US helped rebels with supplies ranging from mules to advanced weaponry, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that played a crucial role in neutralising Soviet air power. The US money spigot, however, was later turned off and the world watched Afghanistan plunge into chaos and eventually harbour al-Qaeda terrorists.
Mr Gates, who left Afghanistan shortly before Mr Ahmadinejad spoke, called the Iranian President's visit to Kabul "certainly bothersome."
"We think Afghanistan should have good relations with all its neighbours, but we want all of Afghanistan's neighbours" to deal fairly with President Hamid Karzai's government," Mr Gates said.
Mr Karzai said Iran was assisting Afghanistan with reconstruction projects, improving education and helping provide electricity.
"We are very hopeful that our brother nation of Iran will work with us in bringing peace and security to Afghanistan so that both our countries will be secure," Mr Karzai said, adding that Afghanistan has a very good relationship with Tehran.
"We have mentioned several times to our brother nation, Iran, that we don't want any one to use our soil against any of our neighbours," he said.
Mr Ahmadinejad and Mr Karzai both spoke at the presidential palace, but it was the Iranian leader who did nearly all of the talking.
He said the best way to fight terrorists was not on the battlefield, but through the use of intelligence, which does not result in the death of troops or civilians.
He said: "We do not see the presence of foreign military forces in Afghanistan as a solution for peace in Afghanistan."
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