TEHRAN – The US Ambassador to Kabul John R Bass vehemently denied USinvolvement in transporting Daesh fighters in Afghanistan.

In a statement issued by Bass on Wednesday afternoon, the envoy said inresponse to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s claims of “USsupport for ISIS (Daesh) in Afghanistan are laughable and patently false.

“The facts are clear: US forces have removed more than 1,000 ISIS-K (DaeshAfghanistan) combatants from the battlefield, and the combined efforts ofthe United States and the Afghan National Defense and Security forces havereduced ISIS-K’s presence in Afghanistan.

“As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Alice Wells said recently,‘They’re very much in the cross-hairs at present.’ The Iranian governmentshould be focusing on supporting the Afghan government’s efforts to promotepeace rather than spreading falsehoods,” he said.

Resolute Support also responded to Zarif’s claims and rejected theallegations outright.

Captain Tom Gresback, Public Affairs Director at Resolute Support HQ inKabul, said in a statement that there is no validity in Iran’s claim thatUS Forces in Afghanistan support Daesh in Afghanistan.

“On the contrary, every effort has been made to kill them, and to preventthem from establishing a presence here.

“This false Iranian narrative has no substance, is based on no evidence,and repeats a deliberate Russian propaganda and disinformation campaign,”he said.

“The fighters of IS-K have been fought on the ground and from the air byincreasingly capable Afghan Commandos, supported by coalition forces.