President Raeisi: Everyone knows US backed, planned Daesh growth in Afghanistan

President Ebrahim Raeisi has voiced concerns about the persistence of terrorist acts in neighboring Afghanistan, saying it is no secret that the growth of the Daesh terrorist group, which claimed responsibility for the latest terrorist act in Afghanistan, was a US job.

In a message released on Saturday, Raeisi condoled with the Afghan nation and the entire human society over the martyring and injuring of a large number of innocent Afghans while they were praying in a sacred place.

“It is no secret to anyone that the growth of this Takfiri terrorist movement has taken place with the supports and plans of the US,” he said. “In recent years, the United States has facilitated further activities of Daesh criminals in Afghanistan and prevented their eradication.”

The statement came after an attack against Friday prayers at a Shia mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz martyred dozens of people.

The attack, claimed by Daesh, targeted the packed mosque, in an apparent attempt to stir conflict between Shias and Afghanistan’s Sunni majority.

Raeisi also mentioned that the atrocious act occurred on the first day of Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Lunar Hijri Calendar, which he said is “the month of unity among Muslims.”

The Unity Week, designated by the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul), is commemorated among Muslims every year as a show of unity between the world’s Shias and Sunnis. According to the Sunni narrative, the birth date of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him and his progeny) falls on the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal while the Shias consider the 17th of Rabi' al-Awwal as the exact birth date. The week in between is celebrated and commemorated among Muslims as the “Unity Week.”

The Iranian president said the recent terrorist act in Afghanistan is aimed at sowing discord among Muslims and is committed by those whose “inhumane and anti-religion nature is obvious to everyone.”

“I hereby express my concern over the continuation of terrorist acts and coupling acts of religious sedition with ethnic provocation, which is part of the new US security project for Afghanistan, and stress that the Islamic Republic of Iran, as in the past, is ready to provide full support to our Afghan brothers and sisters, and we hope that with the vigilance of Afghan groups and the formation of an inclusive government, a large part of this plot will be thwarted and, God willing, the Afghan people will be able to experience peace,” he added.

Daesh has maintained a foothold in eastern and northern Afghanistan following the United States’ hasty withdrawal from the country, which led to the collapse of the Afghan government in mid-August.

The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for several attacks against the Taliban recently. It has also targeted Shias in Syria and Iraq in the past.

Controlling almost the entire Afghanistan, the Taliban have vowed to eradicate Daesh.

MG