CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie assessed that “Iran does not wish us well in Afghanistan and I’m sure they would like to see us come to harm there as well… can I link them [Russia and Iran] to specific events, specific payments, a specific attack? Not really at this time. We continue to look at that”. Discussing the U.S.-Taliban agreement, McKenzie noted that “the Taliban has still not shown conclusively that they’re going to break with al-Qaeda… They have been very consistent on not attacking us and the coalition. However, they have continued to go after the Afghan security forces at a pretty high tempo”. McKenzie further confirmed that “we’re on a glide slope to be at 4,500” troops in October/November, and “we’re still going to be able to accomplish the core tasks that we want to accomplish”.