Iranian weapons in Afghanistan

A regular feature of media coverage of the war in Afghanistan is the claim that the insurgent groups are obtaining weapons from Iran. There are some stories of this type doing the rounds now and I have a few doubts about them. These sorts of accusations are difficult to prove. There are many ways that weapons of Iranian-origin could end up in Afghanistan without the involvement of the Iranian government. A cynical observer might see the claims as politically motivated. The US and its allies have plenty of reasons to make accusations of this sort against Tehran.*

But there is also the possibility that the insurgents themselves are flinging propaganda around. Last year, for example, a "Taliban commander" suggested that the insurgency's favourite mine was an Iranian-made weapon known as the "Dragon". International weapons experts have never heard of it. Further, it is known that many if not most of the mines deployed by the insurgents are home-made, which is why the term "improvised explosive device" is so widely used today.

The primary source of weapons for the insurgency is likely to be Pakistan. This is not necessarily an accusation against the government of Pakistan. The border, as we are often told, is "porous". Bomb-making materials are household items like cooking pots, bags of fertiliser, and motorcycle batteries. The insurgency employs a network of buyers, sellers, and intel-gatherers to obtain the materials it requires. Perhaps this is one reason why the Taliban would be happy to see NATO and US forces off chasing imaginary Iranian smugglers a few hundred miles away.

* It may also be worth asking why we hear so much about Iranian weapons but relatively little about the Chinese ones, like those shown in recent official images.