WASHINGTON: The US Treasury and allies in the Gulf took aim at Iran’s support for the Taliban on Tuesday with new sanctions against nine individuals from both countries.

The Riyadh-based Terro­rist Financing Targeting Centre (TFTC) said the sanctions aimed to “expose and disrupt Taliban actors and their Iranian sponsors that seek to undermine the security of the Afghan Govern­ment.”

The list inc­l­u­­ded two Iranian Revolu­tionary Guard officials identified as Mohammad Ebra­him Owhadi and Esma’il Razavi.

According to a TFTC statement the two involved in providing training, financial and logistical support to the Taliban.

It said Owhadi arranged a deal in 2017 with a top Taliban official in Aghan­istan’s Herat Province in which the Revolutionary Guard would provide military and financial support to the Taliban in return for them attacking government forces in Herat.

Razavi provided similar support to other Taliban gro­ups across the Iran-Afgha­ni­s­tan border, the statement said.

Also named were the Taliban’s deputy shadow governor for Herat, Abdullah Samad Faroqui; Mohammad Daoud Muzzamil. who holds the same position in Hel­mand province, Naim Barich, who manages Taliban-Iran relations, and three other senior Taliban officials.

The blacklist also included Abdul Aziz, accused of paying the Taliban for protection for his narcotics trafficking and gemstones businesses.

“Iran’s provision of military training, financing, and weapons to the Taliban is yet another example of Tehran’s blatant regional meddling and support for terrorism,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“The United States and our partners will not tolerate the Iranian regime exploiting Afghanistan to further their destabilising behaviour,” he said in the statement.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2018

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