TEHRAN, June 10 (UPI) -- A candidate for Iran's presidency has said members of the country's Revolutionary Guards helped bring down the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Mohsen Rezaie, the former leader of the guards, told USA Today in an e-mail the United States has not duly recognized Iran's "important role in the overthrow of the Taliban" in 2001. He said Iran backed the Northern Alliance, a coalition of warlords and militia from the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara minorities, before U.S. forces entered Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he has "no knowledge of (Iranian) assistance."
Former CIA Afghan team leader Gary Schroen confirmed there were two Iranian guard colonels attached to Northern Alliance commander Bismullah Khan, but he said: "There was never any (U.S.) interaction (with the Iranians)." He downplayed any possible Iranian contributions on the battlefield, USA Today said.
The newspaper said Rezaie is the first to claim Iran played an important role in the capture of Kabul at the war's climax.
