Zarif: US, NATO Must Make Up for Afghan Invasion


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif debunked the US and NATO officials’ claims that they had fought against terrorism in Afghanistan, saying they were after their own interests and must now make up for the invasion and occupation of that country.

“For all their talk of democracy & War on Terror, events in Afghanistan & statements by US & NATO officials prove: They invaded & occupied Afghanistan & elsewhere ONLY to pursue their own interests—but couldn't even achieve that,” the top Iranian diplomat said in a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

“US/NATO now have clear obligation to compensate,” Zarif underlined.

Since 2001, the US has spent $2.26 trillion in Afghanistan, the Costs of War Project at Brown University calculates.

The US has been pulling its military forces from Afghanistan in recent weeks as the Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan over, after its members swept into the capital, Kabul, and the president, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country.