Hegemonic system aims to cause rifts between Iran, Afghanistan: Commentator

“We must remember that one of the key policies of the hegemonic system, which it has for years been exploiting for further dominion in West Asia and the Islamic world, is creating rifts,” Reza Sadr al-Hosseini told ISNA on Wednesday.

“The British had a slogan — “Divide and rule!” — which they had been able to use well… They have offered these experiences to the Americans, who consult the Brits often. In their opinion, the best way [to gain dominion] is to cause rifts between ethnicities,” he added.

Sadr al-Hosseini said that Western intelligence services had in recent months produced and circulated video clips, infographics, and interviews, including by non-experts, to cause discord between the two nations of Iran and Afghanistan.

“Therefore, they have taken action… [to provoke] Afghanophobia in Iran and Iranophobia in Afghanistan, which have had regrettable consequences for the two countries,” he added.

A recent attack against clergymen in Mashhad and a mob raid on Iran’s Consulate in Herat were instances in which foreign fingerprints could be seen, he said.

But he stressed that Iran and Afghanistan — with a common border of more than 900 kilometers, as well as a common culture and religion — had deeply-rooted ties that could not be affected by such provocations.