Iran condemns killing of Afghan peacebroker

21 September 2011 | 19:28 Code : 16435 Latest Headlines

TEHRAN: Iran condemns the assassination of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani as a “terrorist act,” local media reported on Wednesday citing a foreign ministry statement.

Rabbani was a friend of Iran and opposed the signing of the security pact between Afghanistan and America,” the statement quoted foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

His “martyrdom on the eve of the World Peace Day, shows terrorism is spreading in this country despite the 10-year presence of foreign forces under the pretext of establishing peace and security” he added.

Rabbani, chairman of the Afghan government’s peace council and a former president of the country, was killed at home by a Taliban suicide bomber on Tuesday.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani meanwhile blamed Tehran’s archfoe, Washington, and the Nato forces in Afghanistan for a string of recent assassinations in Afghanistan, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

“The assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani is an example of the kind of democratic heaven that America and Nato had promised (Afghans),” Larijani was quoted as saying.

“America and Nato must clarify whether they were complicit in several recent assassinations in Afghanistan or rather that they are unable to establish security in this country,” he added.

The 71-year-old Rabbani, who had been leading peace talks with Afghan insurgents, was in Tehran last week to attend a two-day conference on “Islamic Awakening,” dedicated to the uprisings in the Arab world.