Exclusive: Iran Bombing Suspect Masterminded Attacks In Afghanistan

Adel Arif, who is suspected of being involved in recent twin bombings in Iran, had masterminded several attacks in Afghanistan, a former Afghan security official said.

Ahmad Zia Saraj, the last director of national security in the former Afghan government, told Afghan International that Arif was the architect of the attacks on Kabul University and Afghanistan’s presidential palace, among several others.

According to Saraj, Arif was arrested three years ago and was handed down a death penalty but was later released from prison after the Taliban took over of Afghanistan.

Due to his ties with the Taliban’s Haqqani network, Arif drove around Kabul in armored vehicles during the first eight months of Taliban’s rule, noted Saraj, further stressing that he was a close friend of Shahab al-Muhajir, the head of the Islamic State - Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), which is the militant group’s Afghanistan branch.

Saraj stated that “with Taliban entering Kabul, some 4,000 ISIS members were released from prison and dispersed across Afghan provinces and the region.”

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced in a statement on Friday that several ISIS-affiliated “terrorists” were arrested in connections with Karman bomb attacks on January 3.

The ministry accused Adel Arif, known as Adel Panjshiri, of having a hand in the attacks, adding that he has entered areas in western Tehran and is wanted.

On January 3, bombs targeted a memorial ceremony at the tomb of IRGC’s Qasem Soleimani, claiming the lives of nearly 100 people. The Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Iran launched missiles at targets in Syria earlier this week, claiming to have hit an ISIS training camp.

Soleimani, the Iranian regime’s top military and intelligence operator in the Middle East, was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020 in Iraq.