US Responsible For Rabbani’s Assassination : Iran Diplomat

Tehran, July 22, IRNA – Head of Afghanistan’s Headquarters in Iran’s Foreign Ministry Mohsen Pakaeen said Saturday that Washington was responsible for the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani in September 2011. Rabbani, who headed an Afghan government panel trying to launch negotiations with the Taliban, was killed by a suicide bomber in his home in Kabul. “US was either responsible for the assassination or, at least, was guilty for neglecting its responsibility in providing necessary security means to senior Afghan officials,” Pakaeen told IRNA in an exclusive interview. He believed that US was against making any peace between Afghanistan and Taliban since “establishment of peace in Afghanistan could lead to end of presence of US troops in the region.” According to the diplomat the assassinated president of Afghanistan “had succeeded to make good progress in his talks with different Taliban groups as he had good relations with all of them.” “If Rabbani’s talks had positive outcome, then, naturally, there was no more need for the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan as peace could have been reached through negotiations,” Pakaeen argued, adding that Rabbani’s assassination rooted in the fact that “certain countries were to prolong their presence in Afghanistan.” Moreover, Pakaeen said that since the latest strategic deals signed by the US and Afghan officials could influence the entire region, that could not be considered just a bilateral issue between Washington and Kabul. As for Tehran’s opposition against US-Afghanistan strategic deals, he said American officials are seeking certain goals by prolonging their presence in Afghanistan. Unlike many countries which were in Afghanistan to help fight terrorism and support human rights, the US presence in Afghanistan has some ultra-Afghanistan objectives, Pakaeen stressed. “US is not in Afghanistan to fight terrorism", he said, adding that building large runways for planes and import of modern electronic equipment along with constructing military bases do not mean fighting against terrorism in Afghanistan, Pakaeen stressed. He said US arrived in Afghanistan to control Russia and China as well as disturb Pakistan's internal affairs. Influencing central Asia and taking over Afghanistan’s rich natural resources were among other objectives of the US presence in the region, he added./end