Afghan protesters today took to the streets in western city of Herat, armed with stones and eggs, and marched to the Iranian consulate carrying banners with anti-Iran slogans. They were protesting the Iranian decision to slow down the border crossing of fuel trucks into Afghanistan.
At Islam Qaleh border crossing 100 kilometers away from Heart city nearly 2,000 fuel trucks are waiting. Only 40 are allowed to leave Iran each day, said Afghan Commerce Minister Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi. The stoppage of fuel tankers has created a crisis in Afghan cities during a cold January. Around 40 percent of the country's fuel is transited through Iran.
Iran on its part says it needs to make sure the trucks are not delivering fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Ealier today, in protest to continued demonstrations against its embassy in Kabul and the consulate in Herat, Iran called in the Afghan ambassador in Tehran to the foreign ministry.
It is regrettable that ordinary Afghanis are affected by this “sanction” . Iran should do its uppermost to make sure that ordinary Afghanis are not affected using on-the-ground intelligence by the trusted Afghani officials. However Iran has every right to deny cheap fuel to Americans who deny ordinary Iranians access to safe airway travel which has resulted in so many unnecessary deaths.
ReplyDeleteThese tankers have been entering Afghanistan during the past 10 years while NATO forces were present in the country, and Iran never slowed the deliveries because of their presence. The Afghans see the recent slowdown, which started more than a month ago, as a de facto embargo or sanction, if you will, by the Iranians against their country. The Iranians, I assume, have fuel problems of their own, hence the subsidy reforms targeting fuel prices, and might not be able to export as much fuel to Afghanistan, and are using NATO's presence as an excuse.
ReplyDeleteComplicating matters more is the fact that some of these tankers are on transit bringing in non-Iranian fuel to Afghanistan. Theoretically they should not be affected, but they claim they are.
In any case, the Iranian government needs to find a quick solution to this very emotional issue for the Afghans, especially during this period of cold spill.
Iran should actually drag its feet and leave the solution to be found by the Americans.
ReplyDeleteits the case of you screw me, I screw your aunty cause i know it hurts you more.... The deportation of Afhans in Iran was unfair but pressuring the Americans in causing social unrest in Afghanistan is the right move.
Fact is when America is preoccupied ... Iran is safe from Terror.
When fuel is sold then at the International price
Illuminati
Why should Iran help the US that keeps tareting Irans shipping.
ReplyDeleteAfghanistan is a patsy, its the US armed forces that suffer.
Iran should keep it up.
It's disappointing that the last two commentators display the same moral bankruptcy as the NATO forces.
ReplyDeleteBasically, as long as it serves political objectives, let's screw the people. We'd expect a more tolerant and positive step from Iran in this situation. Letting fellow muslims (fellow humans) suffer the cold isn't going to win any points in the long run.
Irans actiones actually helps and saves Afghan lives.
ReplyDeleteLess feul into Afghanistan, less patrols and less women and children and farmers being killed by bored soldiers.
Well the US disaster in Afghanistan is further compounded by the Pakistanis burning "NATO" tankers by the dozens everyday and then collecting $1 million "high-risk insurance" on them. This is the new method of the ISI funding their Taliban proteges with double jeopardy.
ReplyDeleteA group of unidentified gunmen in southwestern Pakistan have set ablaze 20 NATO tankers carrying oil to US-led soldiers stationed in war-hit Afghanistan.
According to some witnesses, unidentified armed men on Friday night opened live ammunition on tankers at a time when the drivers were inside a roadside restaurant near Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan.
There were no reports of casualties in the incident, but witnesses said the flames of fire spread to a nearby restaurant and a shop.
The assailants were seen fleeing the area in their cars and pick-up trucks calmly without any obstruction, but no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Witnesses have pointed to the late arrival of the police forces at the time of the attack and deliberate belated response by authorities after these frequent attacks points to collusion.
According to Pakistani officials, nearly 80 percent of the fuel, spare parts, and other non-lethal supplies needed for the US-led soldiers in Afghanistan initially arrive in the southern port of Karachi from where they are transported to the neighboring Afghanistan.
NATO supply trucks in Pakistan are frequent targets of Taliban groups and anti-government Baluch resistance groups in the country.
if you cut two side of nato suplier one from pakistan which every day at least 2000 truck loaded pass true to afghanistan and from iran at least 1400 truck that mean 75% of all supplied com from two country the rest from tajekistan and turkininistan as 25% supplied root by closing this two nato would be claps in few weeks or a month so at this mumment iran and usa plus israel is in cold war why should iran supplied the most important of feul to afghanistan that could let neto to fight harder let bring the feul by air which will cost 10 times more for nato forces this year of 2011 iran will press hard nato in afghanistan and the people of afghanistan must understand price of freedom is hard and must fight for they freedom from any one try to take away.
ReplyDelete