ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai sought support from Pakistan in advancing the reconciliation process in Afghanistan ahead of a trilateral summit on regional security on Thursday involving Iran’s president.
But the meeting in Islamabad between Karzai, the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be overshadowed by Iran’s mounting tensions with the West.
Iran has been accused in the past of providing low-level backing to Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency and diplomats and analysts have suggested Tehran could ratchet up this support if it wanted to put serious pressure on US forces in Afghanistan.
Karzai met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and the army and intelligence chiefs and discussed efforts to seek reconciliation with the Taliban to end the 10-year war.
But the world is currently focused on Iran’s standoff with the West.
Tehran on Wednesday proclaimed advances in nuclear know-how, including new centrifuges able to enrich uranium much faster, a move that may heighten its confrontation with the West over suspicions it is seeking the means to make atomic bombs.
Iran’s resolve to pursue a nuclear programme showed no sign of wavering despite Western sanctions inflicting increasing damage on its oil-based economy.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday Iran’s announcement of new nuclear achievements was exaggerated and meant to fend off action against the Islamic republic.
Tension between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear work has mounted since November, when the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear weapon.
Widely believed to be the Middle East’s only atomic power, Israel has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence. Both Washington and Israel have not ruled out military action to stop Tehran developing atomic bombs. (Reuters)