A leading hard-line newspaper said Saturday that newly elected Afghan head of state Hamid Karzai was “America's choice” and warned officials against trusting Iran's eastern neighbor.
"We Iranians have to pay attention to this reality that from now on, and for an undetermined period, America is our eastern neighbor," headlined a commentary in Saturday's edition of Johmuri-Eslami.
"Contrary to the vast propaganda which tries to make believe that Hamid Karzai and the members of the new Afghan government were the choice of the Afghan people, the truth is that the ruling Afghan team is America's choice," the newspaper declared.
A December meeting in Bonn on Afghanistan’s future was "led by the United States, and Karzai and his cabinet were created during this meeting," the newspaper argued.
"During the past six months they have acted according to US orders ... and the Americans will continue to rule over Afghanistan in the coming 18 months.
"The presence of numerous American military bases in the east, west, center and north of Afghanistan, the absolute cooperation of Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf with the Americans on Afghan and regional-related issues, their increased activities in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, all reveal the American goal of intervention in (regional) countries, including our country," it said.
Jomhuri-Eslami said the current "sensitive situation" requires that Iranian officials "follow up on the Afghan issue with greater attention."
The Iranian government has pledged its support to Karzai, though Washington accuses Tehran, which opposes the Western military presence in Afghanistan, of working to destabilize Karzai's administration. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
