Special to WorldTribune.com

Iran “is betting on the re-emergence of the Taliban,” a Western diplomat said, and is covering that bet by supplying weapons, cash and training to its fighters.

“At the beginning, Iran was supporting Taliban financially,” said a senior Afghan official, according to a Wall Street Journal report. “But now they are training and equipping them, too.”

Officials say Iran is supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan to counter U.S. influence and Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) move into Taliban territory.

Iran is “uncertain about where Afghanistan is heading right now, so they are hedging their bets,” the diplomat said.

U.S. Sen. John McCain said the report of Iran aid to the Taliban is another sign of President Barack Obama’s strategy failure in the Middle East.

“This is further evidence of the administration’s continued willful disregard for the facts on the ground in light of Iranian aggression in the region,” McCain told the Journal.

In the Journal report, a Taliban fighter said militants receive weapons from smugglers paid by Iran’s government including mortars, machine guns, rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades.

Afghan officials and the Taliban fighter told the Journal that Iran currently operates four training camps for Taliban inside its territory.

Iran has denied it backs the Taliban and no Iranian officials commented on the Journal report.

  Iran, John McCain, Report: Iran supporting Taliban with weapons and cash, Taliban, WorldTribune.com