Karzai admits to taking Iranian cash

The Afghan president says the bags of cash he regularly receives from Tehran are part of a transparent aid process.

Hamid Karzai is widely suspected of electoral fraud and corruption, and so his comments will do little to calm critics concerned with Iran’s growing influence in Afghanistan. Karzai admitted that a New York Times story was correct and that his chief of staff received a bag stuffed with about 700,000 Euros from Iran but denied that the money went to key government officials to secure their loyalty to Tehran. He said such payments occur once or twice a year, and are used to maintain the presidential palace and pay government employees. Karzai also said the Afghan government receives similar payments from other countries. Despite billions in annual international aid, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries on the planet.