Latest news with #IslamistRegime
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Taliban hands over Afghans on ‘kill list' to Iran
The Taliban is handing over three Afghans that it suspects of spying for Britain to Iran. The transfer follows a secret deal between the two Islamist regimes to cooperate in arresting people who worked with British forces in Afghanistan. The three are understood to have been included on a leaked list that contained names of Afghans who applied for asylum in Britain. It included soldiers who worked with the British Army, as well as intelligence assets and special forces personnel. British officials have now urged the Islamist regime to 'honour' a general amnesty that it announced in 2021 after taking over the country. Newspapers including The Telegraph were banned from revealing the leak under an unprecedented two year High Court super-injunction that was finally lifted in July, following a legal challenge. The handing-over of suspected British spies to Iran follows high-level negotiations between Taliban leadership and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials who flew to Kabul last week to formalise an intelligence-sharing arrangement. The agreement allows both governments to pursue individuals identified in the compromised British database. Senior Taliban officials said the suspected spies are being held in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and that their transfer to Tehran is awaiting approval from the interior ministry. Sources claimed that the men had been named in a leaked spreadsheet containing the details of 25,000 Afghans who applied to the British Government to be resettled out of Afghanistan. While it has not been possible to verify their identities, Iran wants to obtain the 'kill list' because it contains the identities of more than 100 MI6 agents and British special forces personnel. Iran seeks to use the suspected spies as leverage in ongoing negotiations with Western powers over its nuclear programme, while the Taliban hopes to secure diplomatic recognition of its government in exchange for the cooperation. So far, only Russia has officially recognised the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan since they returned to power four years ago. The Taliban has been holding at least 13 people said to be named on the leaked list at a house in Kandahar over the past few weeks. Taliban officials have shared their names with Iranian intelligence forces, who then selected three they believed worked as British agents during the two-decade US-led invasion of Afghanistan. 'Blindfolded and put on plane to Kabul' A senior Taliban official in Kandahar said: 'The names of those in the house were sent to Tehran after the IRGC officers' visit, and they then responded that they believed three of them were spies and wanted them.' He added: 'On Saturday, the three were blindfolded, taken from the house, and put on a plane to Kabul.' The Taliban's decision to share the database followed internal deliberations within its leadership in Kandahar. A second senior Taliban official in Kabul said some faction members opposed cooperation with Iran because of Tehran's mistreatment of Afghan refugees. However, the prospect of Iranian diplomatic recognition ultimately swayed the decision. The agreement between the IRGC and the Taliban has deepened divisions between the Taliban administration in Kabul and top clerics in Kandahar. Ministers in Kabul such as Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban interior minister, argue that the Taliban should be seeking bargaining chips against Britain rather than sending 'valuable assets' to Tehran. He is in conflict with the Taliban establishment in Kandahar over his hardline views and a crackdown on women in recent months. The Taliban official in Kabul told The Telegraph that the interior minister is not satisfied with the handing-over of the three alleged British spies, saying: 'I don't even think Haqqani himself is happy about it as he's in conflict with the supreme mullah.' He added: 'When an order comes from Kandahar, [Haqqani] has no choice but to say yes. 'Haqqani wants to use them against the West, but the supreme mullah and the people are more focused on gaining recognition from as many countries as possible, even if it means cooperating with Iranians.' The Islamic Republic's foreign ministry attacked The Telegraph on Tuesday over its coverage of the leaked list, branding reports of the fact that the IRGC were meeting the Taliban an attempt to 'divert the public from the genocide happening in Gaza'. The security breach happened when a Royal Marine accidentally emailed the complete database to Afghan contacts in Britain instead of sending a limited extract. The spreadsheet included names, telephone numbers and email addresses of Afghan soldiers, government workers and family members who had applied to relocate under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy following the Western military withdrawal in August 2021. The Government imposed a super-injunction in September 2023 preventing media coverage of the data breach, which has been described as one of the most damaging intelligence leaks in recent history. Johnny Mercer, the former veterans' minister who served in Afghanistan, called the leak 'gut-wrenching'. Taliban officials told The Telegraph that the British cover-up of the list was pointless because it already possessed all the victims' details. The total relocation programme for Afghans could cost up to £7bn of taxpayers' money. The leaked database has created ongoing security risks for thousands of Afghans who assisted British forces during the war. Some individuals identified in the documents are believed to have fled to Iran to escape Taliban reprisals, only to face arrest by Iranian authorities. Several people whose names appeared on the leaked list have been arrested by Iranian border forces in recent days, The Telegraph understands. 'Focus on British spies' An Iranian official said: 'Many were released because they were only former Afghan soldiers, while others are being held for further checks. The focus is just on British spies.' The cooperation agreement between the Taliban and Iran represents a shift in regional dynamics. Both governments, isolated by international sanctions and lacking widespread diplomatic recognition, appear to be leveraging their shared hostility toward Western intelligence operations to strengthen bilateral ties. The agreement follows threats from Britain, France and Germany to impose crippling economic sanctions if Iran does not resume nuclear talks by the end of August 2025. Under a 2015 deal, Iran received relief from years of trade and banking restrictions in return for limits on its nuclear enrichment programme to prevent weapons development. That deal is due to expire on Oct 18. The Taliban's control of Afghanistan since August 2021 has enabled the group to access government records and pursue former collaborators with international forces. The regime has previously been accused of conducting reprisal killings against Afghans who worked with Western militaries, despite initial promises of amnesty. IRGC, designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, has historically operated extensive intelligence and proxy networks across the Middle East. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman declined to comment, but it is understood that the British Government has urged the Taliban to honour its 2021 commitment to an amnesty for Afghans who worked with Western forces. A Taliban official told The Telegraph in July: 'There may be a general amnesty in place, but spies cannot escape justice.'
Wall Street Journal
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Iran's Nuclear Pursuit and the Pakistani Example
If Israel succeeds in destroying Iran's nuclear program, it would do the world a favor. Those who argue that Israel should live with a nuclear Iran should look no further than India's bitter experience with its nuclear-armed neighbor, Pakistan. Nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran's revolutionary Islamist regime would be even more dangerous. Twice before—Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007—Israel has prevented belligerent Middle Eastern dictatorships from developing nuclear weapons that would threaten the Jewish state's existence and destabilize the region.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Syria's Druze sect: caught in the middle of Israeli tensions
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Violence has once again broken out in fractured Syria between forces allied with the new Islamist regime and fighters from one of the country's religious minorities. Dozens of members of the Druze community were killed in clashes with pro-government forces near Syria's southern border with Israel last week, according to the UK-based war monitoring service, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In response, Israel carried out strikes across Syria, including near the presidential palace in Damascus, saying it aimed to send "a clear message" to the interim government. "We will not allow [Syrian] forces to deploy south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community," Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu said. Syria's leadership, however, blamed "outlaw groups" for the violence, and called Israeli strikes a "dangerous escalation". A religious and ethnic Arab minority, originally an offshoot of Islam. The "unique" group dates back to the 11th century, following a belief system that incorporates elements of Islam, Hinduism and even classical Greek philosophy, said the Pew Research Center. There are an estimated 700,000 Druze in Syria, making them the country's third-largest religious group; there are also around 230,000 in Lebanon and 25,000 in Jordan. Israel and the Palestinian territories are home to about 150,000 Druze, most of whom hold Israeli citizenship and are subject to its military draft, according to New Lines. Druze make up less than 2% of Israel's population but have "the highest rate of enlistment", with 80% signing up. The situation is more "complicated" in the Golan Heights, a majority-Druze area annexed from Syria by Israel. There, most have repeatedly refused Israeli citizenship and "consider themselves Syrian". Bashar al-Assad's rule was mainly concentrated in big cities and "the coastal heartland of the Alawite sect" to which he belonged, said the BBC. But other regions were "partially or almost completely out of his control". During Syria's civil war, the Druze were generally neutral: neither "fully aligned" with the Assad regime, nor "allied to opposition or jihadist groups", said New Lines. Many "refused military conscription" and some leaders even "negotiated local self-defence arrangements" independent of the army. Those militias defended the Druze from jihadists, such as Islamic State; some are still active today. When he appointed himself Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed that religious minorities would be protected. But Syria has been bristling with sectarian tension. The regime has "already begun imposing 'Sunni Islamist' strictures on many aspects of society", said professor of Arab politics Joseph Massad on Middle East Eye. In March, security forces and allied groups reportedly massacred more than 1,700 civilians from the Alawite community. The most recent clash with Druze fighters was "sparked by a voice recording attributed to a Druze man", said France24. He was "ostensibly cursing the Prophet Mohammed". The clip was widely shared online but Druze leaders say it was "fabricated". Last week's violence suggested to the Druze that either Al-Sharaa "doesn't have control of all his allies, or that he unleashed them in a deliberate effort to crush a mounting insurgency", said New Lines. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of Syria's Druze, has described the attacks on the community as "genocidal". From a purely strategic viewpoint, maintaining the stability of the Druze is seen as "critical" for Israel's national security, said the Israeli non-profit Alma Research and Education Center. Weakened minority groups "often become clients of hostile jihadist forces". Israel's "hard-learned lesson" from the 7 October massacre is that "allowing a jihadist monster to grow unchecked at the border is unacceptable". Israel's motivation is at least partially humanitarian, too. The Druze population in Israel is "deeply integrated into its national and defence fabric" and has "consistently demonstrated loyalty to the state". While the threat of a massacre of Syria's Druze "remains very real", ignoring pleas for help from across the border is "not an option". But Israel's claims that its strikes will pressure Syrian authorities into protecting the Druze have been "met with cynicism" from Druze leaders, who know Israel "does not want a heavily armed Syria on its border", said Al Jazeera. There is "mounting suspicion" that Israel is ultimately "angling for control of huge swathes of the south of Syria", said New Lines. Activists accuse Netanyahu of using Druze as "political pawns", leveraging their plight to justify Israel's increasing encroachment into Syria and "stoke internal resentment".
