Taliban Chief Blames Soldiers for Deaths of 9 Iranian Envoys

The Taliban religious militia said Thursday that unidentified soldiers within its ranks killed nine of 11 Iranians missing in Afghanistan.

The Taliban made the disclosure in a letter from the group’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Earlier, a Taliban spokesman had said the nine were killed but denied responsibility.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, Maluvi Saeed-ur-Rehman, quoted Taliban spokesman Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel as saying the bodies were found Wednesday in the mountains. The victims were among 10 diplomats and one journalist reported missing shortly after the Taliban seized the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif from rival forces.

There was no word on the fate of the other two Iranians who remained missing.

The nine, “either intentionally or unintentionally, have been killed by unidentified soldiers” of the Taliban, the mullah’s letter said. He stressed that the soldiers acted on their own.

U.N. Security Council members condemned the killings and called for an “urgent investigation into these crimes” in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Iran blamed the Taliban and its ally, Pakistan, for the deaths. State-run television claimed that it had evidence that the Taliban leader had personally ordered his troops to detain the diplomats at the Iranian Consulate. The TV report did not present any proof.

Qorbanali Dorri Najafabadi, Iran’s intelligence minister, said he had information that Taliban forces had entered the consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif with the help of Pakistani intelligence forces. Pakistan is seen as a major backer of the Taliban. Iran is mostly Shiite Muslim; the Taliban is a radical Sunni Muslim group.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it “reserved the right to defend its people against aggression.” It demanded the immediate repatriation of the diplomats’ bodies and the release of all Iranians held in Afghanistan.

The letter from the mullah said the Taliban was “ready to cooperate in the transfer of the bodies to Iran.”

Tensions between Iran and the Taliban, which controls 90% of Afghanistan, have increased in recent weeks as Tehran demanded the return of its diplomats. Last week, Iran conducted a massive exercise involving 70,000 troops, warplanes and tanks on the Afghan border.

Earlier Thursday, Iran’s army chief said new maneuvers would be held on the Afghan border. He did not say when they would start.