Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview that aired on Monday, said that 2,000 Afghans are still fighting in Syria and that Iran would be willing to arm more in the fight against Daesh if the Afghan government was willing.
Talking in an exclusive interview with TOLOnews’ Lotfullah Najafizada, Zarif said that Iran has not sent any Afghans to Syria, but they have gone there voluntarily.
“I made it clear, nobody goes to war on behalf of a foreign country to a third country. Our brothers would go to [Syria] voluntarily. Some Iraqis went and some from other countries took part in [the war in Syria].”
He said that Iran helped the anti-Daesh front in Syria and that Daesh is a common enemy to all.
“They (Afghan fighters) went to fight for their beliefs. Some of them erected Afghanistan’s flag in their outposts and displayed the photograph of the Afghan president. They are the best forces with a military background in the fight against Daesh. The Afghan government, if willing, can regroup them,” Zarif explained.
He said that most of the Afghans who fought in Syria have rejoined normal life, as now the war is over in Syria.
He said that he has heard about 5,000 Afghan fighters and that less than 2,000 of them are in Syria.
He said that most of the Afghans who fought in Syria were not refugees and that they came from Afghanistan and went on to Syria.
Asked if the Fatemiyoun “project” has been stopped, Zarif said: “We supported people to fight against Daesh in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala so that no one should be forced to fight against Daesh in Kabul and Kandahar. For that reason, we supported them in Tehran, Zahedan, and Kirman Shah or in Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf. But the threat [which was posed by Daesh] is being removed–it is not completely removed.”
On the question about whether he backs the idea of Fatemiyoun forces being regrouped against Daesh in Afghanistan, Zarif said it depends on the Afghan government’s decision.
Source » tolonews