Iran on Wednesday hosted the primary significant talks in months between Taliban and Afghan government representatives, a surprise meeting that comes because the US completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan and districts fall to the Taliban across the country.
The high-level peace talks between the warring sides follow months-old discussions in Qatar that are stalled by a diplomatic stalemate and escalating violence. whilst officials faced one another across vast tables in Tehran and Iran’s top diplomat pledged to finish the crisis, fighting surged in Afghanistan’s western Badghis province.
The Taliban political committee, led by chief negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, flew from Doha to Iran’s capital to satisfy Afghan officialdom, including former vice chairman Younus Qanooni et al. from the High Council for National Reconciliation.
Iranian secretary of state Mohammad Javad Zarif greeted the delegates, urging them to require difficult decisions today for the longer term of their country,” state-run media reported.
After the failure of the US in Afghanistan, Zarif said, Iran stands able to assist the dialogue and to resolve the present conflicts within the country.” Returning to the inter-Afghan negotiation table and committing to political solutions is that the most suitable option, he added. After a two-decade-long campaign, the US military announced on Tuesday that 90pc of yank troops and equipment had already left the country, with the drawdown set to end by late August. Last week, US officials definitively vacated the country biggest airfield, Bagram air station, the epicentre of the war to oust the Taliban and seek out the Al Qaeda perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America.
The Taliban have made relentless territorial wins since April when President Joe Biden announced the last 2,500-3,500 US soldiers and seven,000 allied Nato soldiers would depart Afghanistan. With their victories in northern and southern Afghanistan, the Taliban are escalating pressure on provincial cities and capture of key transportation routes.
Afghanistan’s uncertain path toward peace bears profound consequences for Iran, its western neighbor, which hosts many thousands of undocumented Afghans. Fears have grown in Iran over a wave of Afghans seeking refuge within the country, which already is struggling to stem worsening poverty under tough US sanctions.
