A leading Iranian newspaper has issued a stark warning that Iran’s engagement with the Taliban has produced dangerous consequences, arguing that flawed policies have allowed militant violence to reach the heart of the capital.
In a strongly worded editorial published on Saturday, the Tehran-based daily Jomhouri-e Eslami pointed to the assassination of Afghan political figure Ikramuddin Sari in Tehran as a clear sign of what it described as “grave strategic miscalculations” by Iran’s security and policy institutions. According to the newspaper, the killing demonstrates that hostile networks have managed to infiltrate Tehran’s security environment, raising serious questions about internal safeguards.
The editorial stressed that Iran’s intelligence and security agencies are now confronted with a complex and organised threat that requires immediate exposure and disruption. It argued that it is unacceptable for a group portraying itself as friendly toward Iran to allegedly carry out targeted assassinations on Iranian soil in order to eliminate its critics.
Calling for decisive action, the newspaper urged the Iranian government to reassess its approach toward the Taliban. It said the most effective response would be to decisively curtail what it termed the Taliban’s growing influence inside Iran, warning that continued tolerance could invite further instability.
Jomhouri-e Eslami also criticised previous policy decisions, including the handover of Afghan diplomatic and political representations in Iran to the Taliban. The paper described the group as a terrorist organisation whose assurances, it said, have repeatedly proven unreliable.
The editorial cited multiple developments as evidence supporting its position, including assassinations in both Tehran and Mashhad, the Taliban’s refusal to honour Iran’s water rights, restrictions placed on Iranian institutions operating in Afghanistan, and the group’s treatment of Persian-speaking populations and Shia communities.
It further questioned the lack of transparency surrounding the killings of Ikramuddin Sari in Tehran and Marouf Gholami in Mashhad, suggesting that official silence appeared aimed at preventing damage to the Taliban’s image rather than addressing public concern. The paper warned that such ambiguity only deepens mistrust and speculation.
The newspaper concluded by urging Iranian authorities to swiftly correct what it called past errors and dismantle the domestic networks sympathetic to the Taliban. Without such steps, it warned, Iran risks further exposure to what it described as coordinated Taliban-linked plots within its borders.
Ikramuddin Sari, a former police commander from Afghanistan’s Takhar and Baghlan provinces, was reportedly assassinated near his workplace in Tehran on Wednesday, December 24. The incident triggered widespread reactions among Afghan political circles. However, several days after the reported killing, Iran’s police and security agencies have yet to officially confirm or deny the incident, prompting criticism from Iranian media outlets over what they describe as troubling official silence.
