2/5/2011

“British special forces in Afghanistan have intercepted an Iranian shipment of rockets to the Taliban that would have allowed them to double the range of their attacks, western diplomats have said. The rockets were discovered after an intelligence tip-off on 5 February [2011] when British special forces and Afghan troops stopped a convoy in Nimruz province, in the south-west of Afghanistan bordering Iran and Pakistan, the officials said. …Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, issued a statement denouncing what he called ‘completely unacceptable’ Iranian behaviour. ‘I am extremely concerned by the latest evidence that Iran continues to supply the Taliban with weaponry–weapons clearly intended to provide the Taliban with the capability to kill Afghan and Isaf [International Security Assistance Force] soldiers from significant range. The detailed technical analysis, together with the circumstances of the seizure, leave us in no doubt that the weaponry recovered came from Iran,’ Hague said. ‘It is not the behaviour of a responsible neighbour.’ ”

 – Julian Borger and Richard Norton-Taylor, “British Special Forces Seize Iranian Rockets in Afghanistan,” The Guardian, March 9, 2011