Afghans Hold Anti-Iranian Regime Protest in Herat

VOA News: Hundreds of Afghans have joined an anti-Iran rally in the western Afghan city of Herat to protest Iran's restrictions on fuel deliveries to their country and its recent executions of Afghan citizens.

Afghan traders and other protesters marched to the Iranian consulate in Herat Sunday, carrying banners with anti-Iran slogans. Afghans held similar rallies in the capital Kabul in the past week, throwing eggs at the Iranian embassy and prompting Iran to file a complaint with the Afghan ambassador in Tehran.

Iran has restricted the number of tankers delivering fuel to neighboring Afghanistan since last month, stranding almost 2,000 tankers on the Iranian side of the border. The Afghan commerce ministry said Sunday Iran is permitting only 40 of those tankers to cross into Afghanistan each day.
The restrictions have caused fuel prices in Afghanistan to soar at a time of high demand during cold, winter months. Afghanistan imports about 30 percent of its fuel from Iran. Afghan Commerce Minister Anwarulhaq Ahadi said Sunday Tehran has not given any convincing justifications for limiting fuel deliveries.

Afghan officials say Iran has expressed concern that the tankers will be used to supply NATO forces fighting a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Kabul says the fuel is for civilian use, while NATO says it does not use any fuel that passes through Iran.

Iran says the fuel dispute with Afghanistan has been resolved.

Some Afghans also are angry about Iran's recent hanging of Afghan citizens convicted of crimes.

Ahadi says Kabul is trying to increase fuel imports from Kazakhstan and Russia in response to the Iranian restrictions. He says some Afghan businesses already have signed deals with a Russian company to secure more fuel.

Iran opposes NATO operations in Afghanistan, blaming the presence of foreign troops for the violence in its eastern neighbor.

U.S. officials have long accused the Iranian government of funding and supplying weapons to militants trying to oust NATO forces from Afghanistan.