IS, Taliban Not Comparable

An advisor to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran draws a distinction between the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group and Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

Rasoul Mousavi also said the Taliban is an Afghan group that is “totally different from Daesh [an Arabic acronym for IS],” Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday.

Mousavi hoped that the Afghan group would give up its past attitudes and adopt a new approach toward Afghanistan’s issues.

The statements come as IS has recently declared war on the Taliban, describing Afghan militants as “hypocrites and stooges of the unbelievers.”

An IS commander has said Taliban members should be killed wherever they are and their properties should be seized.

Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid recently said his group is determined to fight terrorists.

Speaking to Tasnim in August 2016, Mujahid also pledged “[Taliban’s] ceaseless fight against Daesh in cooperation with the Afghan nation.”