A US military base in southwest Asia: US
Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that Iranian support
for the Taliban in Afghanistan is "pretty limited" - so far.
Gates noted that he had a public exchange of barbs with
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week over which
country is doing harm in Afghanistan. He had accused Tehran of
undermining US and NATO efforts by helping the Taliban.
"I have talked about Iran playing a double game in
Afghanistan, wanting a good relationship with the Afghan
government and wanting to make our lives harder," he said.
"At this point the level of their effort I think is not a
major problem for us," Gates said. "The level of their support
for the Taliban, so far as best we can tell, has been pretty
limited. I was just trying to express the hope that it
wouldn`t get any worse."
In a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai
in Kabul on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said it was the United
States that was playing a "double game."
"They themselves created terrorists and now they`re
saying that they are fighting terrorists," Ahmadinejad said.
Gates was in Afghanistan for three days this week. He
spoke today at a military base that is home to an Air Force
refuelling and surveillance operation serving the war in
Afghanistan.
The Pentagon asked press travelling with Gates not to
name the base.
PTI
