Iran and Taliban discuss “joint action” against Israel

The foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Taliban discussed “joint action” against Israel in support of Hamas. The Taliban and Iran have worked together in the past to expel the United States from Afghanistan and overthrow the Afghan government.

Iranian interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi called on member states of the Islamic Cooperation Organization to put pressure on Israel in a telephone conversation between the two diplomats, according to the newspaper affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. More news reported on June 17.

The Taliban have informed Tehran that they are ready to send thousands of soldiers to fight against Israel, according to a senior reporter working for the Lebanese Hezbollah-led group. Al Akhbar Daily he claimed in an interview on June 13. Iran has tried to build relations between the Taliban and the Iranian regime’s proxies, including Hezbollah.

A week earlier, several meetings between members of the Taliban and Hamas took place in Tehran, in addition to other high-level meetings during the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in late May. Taliban Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad reported on the meetings between Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyah, Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Foreign Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani that took place in Tehran on May 23.

Iran and Taliban join forces on Israel issue

The Tehran regime and the Taliban government have reaffirmed their growing ties and anti-Israel sentiment throughout the Gaza conflict. In February 2024, Iran’s Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Affairs Hassan Kazemi Qomi stated that “if necessary, a Martyrs’ Division from Afghanistan is ready to fight in Gaza,” adding: “The way we see it, Afghanistan is also part of the axis of resistance.”

Following the Islamic Republic’s drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13, the Taliban immediately released a statement supporting the action, using similar rhetoric against Israel. The next day, Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi posted on X that Iran’s attack on the “criminal Zionist regime” was a “legitimate defense.”

Iran supported the Taliban uprising

Although the Taliban and Iran have clashed in the recent past over controversial issues such as water rights and refugees, the two countries worked together for nearly two decades as the Taliban fought to expel the U.S. and its allies from Afghanistan. The Taliban finally succeeded when the U.S. left the country in August 2021.

Iran provided significant support to the Taliban, including sanctuaries, training, finance, intelligence, and weapons. The extent of this support was demonstrated in October 2022 in a U.S. federal court in Cabrera v. Iran. (Note: Bill Roggio was a witness in that case. His expert report can be read here, and the court’s opinion can be read here.)

Iran supported the Taliban because it did not want a US presence on its eastern border or a pro-American government in Afghanistan. Iran not only provided safe haven for Taliban leaders and fighters, but also operated training facilities for Taliban recruits. In addition, Iran provided safe haven and support for Taliban allies such as al-Qaeda. Senior al-Qaeda leaders, including the group’s alleged emir, Sayf al Adl, are known to be active in Iran.

In addition, Iranian members of the Quds Force, the external operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), entered Iran to provide training, advice, and intelligence to Taliban commanders in western and southern Afghanistan. The IRGC’s support for Taliban networks extended as far as the capital, Kabul.

While discussions about Taliban support for Iran’s proxy terrorist network can be downplayed as wishful thinking or propaganda, they should not be dismissed given the close relations that have developed between the Taliban and Iran over the past two decades.

Bill Roggio is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal. Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focusing on Iranian domestic politics and the Islamic Republic’s pernicious influence in the region.