No Direct or Indirect Contact with US Embassy
Interview by: Sara Massoumi
In the elections in Afghanistan, we will witness the first democratic transfer of power in this country. What are, in your opinion, the most important characteristics of this election?
I believe that this election has certain characteristics regardless of who the next president would be. The first point is that all of the stages of planning and holding this election have been designed by the Afghan officials and, after 2001, this is the first time that the entire election has been administered by the Afghans themselves. The second point is the capabilities of the Afghan security forces during the course of this election. This was a test for them and they succeeded. The second point which I believe is important from a sociological perspective is the social hype which was created among the people of Afghanistan. This hype could clearly be seen during the campaigns and on Election Day. Despite the security threats of the rebel groups and the undesirable weather, the presence of the people in this election was clear. This social hype should be considered as the beginning of a social development in this country particularly in the municipal areas. Of course, sectarian bonds are still an important component in Afghanistan. An active majority has replaced the silent class which indicates that public opinion is in search of finding an identity through their participation in the destiny of the country. Furthermore, the actions of the security forces of this country during the election (providing security and non-intervention) must be considered as the reconstruction of the people’s trust towards the power of these forces.
The President of Afghanistan has recently stated in an interview that in the 2009 elections, some of the foreign powers undermined the political independence of this country with their interventions. Has there been such an intervention in this election?
Real signs of what had happened in the 2009 elections which were protested against by the Afghan officials could be found in the memoirs of the former US Secretary of Defense. It is mentioned in this book that the officials of certain western countries were interested in impacting the trend of the presidential elections in Afghanistan that year. But no claim has been made by either side during this recent election.
Does Iran support any special candidate in this election?
No. The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses support and respect for all of the 8 candidates and has had good relations with all of them during the past years. All of the candidates also intend to establish good relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Furthermore, we believe that part of the current problems in Afghanistan is the result of the interventions which have happened in the internal affairs of this country which have practically led to the reduction of the people’s power and disruption in the stability of the bond between the people and the government. Thus, what has always been important for us has been respect for the people of Afghanistan’s right to choose.
Many analysts believe that it was the cooperation between Iran and the western powers which led to the collapse of the Taliban regime or, in other words, the US and Iran had some type of indirect cooperation in this regard. Are the interests of Iran and the US in Afghanistan similar to each other?
What happened in 2001 in the Bonn Conference was the cooperation of the world community and friends of Afghanistan with the people, parties and personalities of this country for their successful passage from the bitter era which was caused by the domination of radicalism in their country. It must be said that the Islamic Republic of Iran was also one of the effective parties in this regard. At that juncture, we supported the demands of the people of Afghanistan while we believed, and still believe, that radicalism is a dangerous and uncontrollable phenomenon in every aspect and the developments of the past two decades in this regard prove our point. We had placed our national interests on these three principles of self-determination, establishment of stability and security and helping in the development of this country. We believed that fighting against the challenges which were created by the conditions of the country such as radicalism, the narcotics issue, border insecurities and also the increasing number of Afghan immigrants to the neighboring countries was based on the same three principles that I mentioned before. Our measures in the Bonn Conference and later years were founded on that ground and still form the general framework of our policies in this country. Of course, certain issues with a different nature have been created in Afghanistan but the nature of our behavior has not changed. If this issue is looked at from this angle, it could be said that all of the countries which have set their policies along this line have had common interests in Afghanistan.
Has there been any contact between the Iranian and US embassies in Afghanistan during this election?
Not at all. There has been no direct or indirect contact before or during this election.
Do you believe that the Afghans will be able to provide their own security following the exit of the US forces from this country?
The first question that came to my mind after the election was whether the power of the security forces in Afghanistan in providing security during this election could also be strong enough to provide security for the entire country after the withdrawal of foreign forces. The answer to this question is, in my opinion, both positive and negative. It is positive because the necessary determination does exist among the officials and forces of this country. It is negative because, firstly, the structure of the army in Afghanistan is based on the struggle against militia and this army does not have the required equipments to enter into a classic war and that is why it does not yet have an air force, anti-aircraft defense and heavy machineries, and secondly, administering these security forces without foreign financial aids and only by relying on the financial resources of this country is a difficult task, at least at the present juncture, and thirdly, the army and basically the young security forces of this country are still in need of receiving the necessary possibilities and technical trainings and experience in order to prevent the possible emergence of divergence.
What is the relations between the security pact between Afghanistan and the US and the cooperation agreement between Iran and Afghanistan?
During the past years, the government of Afghanistan has attempted to sign strategic pacts with some countries including India, France, China, Britain, Australia and Italy and apparently it is talking with some other countries as well. The security pact between Afghanistan and the US is part of the strategic pact which was previously signed between the two countries. In the trend of strategic agreements between Afghanistan and different countries, last year initial negotiations were done between the presidents of the two countries and the final stages are pursued by the related departments. It could be said that the signing of the agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran is, in fact, aimed at managing the possible consequences of the security pact with the US on the surrounding countries of Afghanistan by the officials of this country.
It seems that the existence of radical movements in the region has simultaneously overshadowed the security of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. How is the situation of the security cooperation between these three countries at the present time? Is there a plan to expand this cooperation after the exit of the US forces from Afghanistan?
Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have common security interests besides their geographical boundaries. Unfortunately, despite the relatively similar security threats which they are faced with (radicalism, narcotics, border struggles), no definitive path has yet been defined to fight against these threats. This is a necessity which is gradually felt especially at a time when the presence of foreign military forces is being reduced.