Herat Poll Row Exposes Iran Tensions

Claims that an allegedly Iran-affiliated organisation was trying to unfairly influence voting in Herat have highlighted tensions over the role of the neighbouring state in Afghan affairs.

A number of candidates in Herat held a press conference two days after the September 20 elections in which they denounced the actions of the Saddiqya Madrasa, a major Shia institution in the city, which they accused of campaigning for pro-Iran candidates.

Herat candidate Mohammad Naser Ahmadyan alleged that Saddiqia Madrasa officials had actively supported individuals chosen by the Iranian consulate in Herat and announced that he had reported them to the Electoral Complaints Commission, ECC, for violating a ban on campaigning in the immediate run-up to the polls.

Ahmad Sayed Haqiqi, head of the ECC in Herat, said that he was not authorised to give further details of alleged complaints to the media.

But Ahmadyan named two candidates who he claimed had been hand-picked by the Iranian consulate. Although results have not yet been announced, both have already claimed victory.

One of those named by Ahmadyan, Ahmad Ali Jebraiely, denied that he was receiving support from Iran, arguing that the allegations came from those who had not managed to win enough public support for themselves.

“Ahmadyan is not in a position that I should respond to his allegation,” he said. “Those who accuse me of cooperation with foreign countries are individuals who themselves depend upon these countries and use their money to mount electoral campaigns.”

Ahmadyan claimed that staff from Iran’s consulate in Herat had attended events where election candidates had spoken.

He also alleged that the Iranian consulate had taken between 500 and 700 Saddiqya Madrasa students and activists over the border to Iran, where they were trained how to campaign for pro-Iran candidates.

But Jafar Tawalkuli, a Saddiqya Madrasa official, dismissed the charges, saying the organisation felt it had no need to respond to them as they were made by politicians who performed badly in the elections.

Hussain Mir Sekandari, an official at the Iranian consulate in Herat, said that Ahmadyan’s allegations were false, adding that he was not prepared to discuss such baseless accusations which were made without presenting any kind of evidence.

Ahmadyan said he stood by his allegations, and feared they may put him in danger. He says he is so concerned that he has submitted a list of people who might take his life to the attorney’s office and security officers.

The controversy highlights a deep suspicion held by many here towards Iranian influence in Afghanistan, particularly in western parts such as Herat. With strong historic ties to the province, Iran has invested heavily in Herat, only some 160 kilometres from the border, developing major cultural and economic links.

“Before the elections some individuals and agencies had already established contacts with Iran, so it is natural that if a person has established relations with somewhere, then he or she would receive the support of that client,” said Mosbah Herati, another parliamentary candidate in Herat.

A US intelligence document from 2007, part of the huge number published recently on WikiLeaks, included reports from Afghan officials that Iran had paid four million US dollars to as many as 90 members of the Afghan parliament.

Wali Mohammad Hadid, a Herat journalist and political analyst, said he believed that the allegations made in the post-election press conference were plausible.

“Iranians would not be against having their favourite and ideologically suitable people in the Afghan parliament; they would use any possible means to place them within the Afghan parliament,” he said.

Many ordinary Heratis are also wary of Iranian influence.

“Iran has always carried out its espionage activities under the cover of madrasas, schools, libraries, aid agencies and so on,” said Herat resident Khalid Shekib, 30. “I think Iran’s interference is deadlier than that of Pakistan, and Afghans should act quickly to thwart Iran’s plots as soon as they are suspected.”

Shahpoor Saber is an IWPR-trained reporter in Herat.