JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Wednesday that the full consequences of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan are unknown, but warned it could impact Israel’s main rival in the region – Iran.
“It was probably the right decision but wasn’t performed in the right manner,” Lapid told foreign reporters at an event organized by the Foreign Press Association.
Lapid’s statement is the first public criticism by a senior Israeli leader of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US evacuated from Kabul on Monday and declared an end to the 20-year war there, despite leaving behind more than 100 Americans and thousands of their Afghan allies.
“We don’t understand completely all the consequences of this move, of this retreat,” Lapid said. “I mean, in terms of what is the effect on Pakistan, on the long border Iran now has with the radical Sunni state, run by a radical Sunni organization. It’s going to have a huge impact on the struggle between al-Qaida and the Islamic State.”
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan poses a risk to Iran, which has faced waves of refugees during previous Afghan civil wars and the threat of Sunni terrorist groups, like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, that vehemently oppose its Shia brand of Islam. The Taliban is also made up of extremist Sunni Muslims.
Before the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Iran and the Taliban were bitter enemies and nearly went to war in 1998 after the terror group murdered several Iranian diplomats. But friction between the two sides waned in the years after the American invasion, and Iran has supplied the Taliban with money and weapons, according to the United States.
Still, it is yet to be seen if the Taliban can prevent the other Sunni terror groups in Afghanistan from taking root in the country and becoming a major security concern for Iran.
Lapid said it is too early to know and said to “wait a little before we jump to conclusions about what exactly is going to be the aftermath of this.”
For Israel, the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and Tehran’s proxies in the region remains a top priority, Lapid said.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with President Joe Biden last week and attempted to persuade him to halt efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. After the meeting, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel and the Biden administration are working together to develop a “Plan B” if nuclear talks between the United States and Iran fail.
Talks to revive the deal are currently stalled and Iran’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday they likely will not resume for another two to three months.
“Right now it seems like the agreement is not going anywhere and the talks are not going anywhere,” Lapid said. “The world needs a plan B, and Iran needs to know there is a credible threat on it if they will keep on advancing their nuclear program as they do now.”
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