In his first visit to Afghanistan, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Afghan President Hamed Karzai and responded to questions from reporters in a joint press conference.

The questions posed to the two presidents revolved mostly around issues that have affected relations between Iran and Afghanistan in recent months.

During the past few months, Iran has expelled thousands of Afghan refugees, while NATO commanders in Afghanistan have claimed that Iranian-made weaponry was being used by Taliban fighters.

Commenting on the expulsion of Afghan refugees, President Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran expels immigrants that enter its borders illegally. He also boasted that more than 2.5 million Afghan citizens are living comfortably in Iran with decent wages.

Mr. Ahmadinejad also said there were serious doubts as to whether Iranian-made arms had been discovered in Afghanistan.

The president’s expression of doubt instead of an outright rejection of claims seems a bit odd. Unless Mr. Ahmadinejad made a mistake in choosing his words, his remarks demonstrate his uncertainty as to the nature of the claims made by NATO commanders in Afghanistan.

No country has yet made concrete and official claims regarding accusations that Iran supplies Taliban fighters in Afghanistan with weaponry. NATO commanders have only said that they have discovered Taliban fighters using Iranian-made weaponry. They have not, however, specified how the Taliban fighters have come into possession of weapons.

Some NATO commanders, particularly American and British officers, have spoken of the possibility of the Qods special forces [affiliated with Passdaran Revolutionary Guards] supplying arms to the Taliban, while others blame the weapons transfer on drug trafficers.

Similar accusations have been made with respect to Iran’s involvement in Iraq, albeit more seriously. Certain American think tanks believe that, in addition to supporting the government of Nouri Al-Maliki, the Islamic Republic is also involved in training and arming Iraqi insurgents.

From America’s point of view, Iran wants to repeat in Afghanistan the policy it has been following in Iraq: while supporting the government of Hamed Karzai, also supply weapons to Taliban fighters.

It is clear that Iran wants the government of Nouri Al-Maliki and Hamed Karzai to succeed, because the Islamic Republic has no better friends than the two to replace its sworn enemies, Saddam Hussein and Mullah Omar.

However, it is also clear that the Iranian government does not want to see the U.S. and its allies to succeed in Afghanistan and Iraq, because that would only embolden the United States in its confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

Governments in Iraq and Afghanistan realize the two-sidedness of the Iranian policy. Therefore, while shying away from criticizing Iran directly, they hope to help melt the ice in Iran-U.S. relations – though to no avail thus far.

One can interpret Mr. Ahmadinejad’s remarks in Kabul about the 2.5 million successful Afghan resident in Iran as a sign of improving relations between the two countries following the expulsion of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees. If this interpretation is correct, one has to regard Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit to Kabul as successful.