Iranian FM proposes Iran’s solution to Afghan crisis

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, whose country is hosting a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors, presented Tehran’s proposals to resolve the crisis in the war-hit neighboring state.

Addressing the Second Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan’s Neighboring Countries in Tehran, Amir Abdollahian presented the Islamic Republic of Iran’s proposals to find a solution to the crisis in Afghanistan.

As the first part of the proposal, he mentioned the necessity of forming an all-inclusive government effectively and sustainably representing all ethnic and religious groups via intra-Afghan dialogue without the interference of foreign actors.

As the second point, Amir Abdollahian singled out the Taliban, saying that the group has undeniable responsibility in providing security, fighting terrorism, observing the rights of all groups including women, supplying basic needs of Afghan people, putting an end to violation of ethnic and religious groups’ rights, rooting out displacement, and observing the basic and accepted principles of international laws.

On the humanitarian needs of Afghan people, including food, medicine, and COVID-19 vaccine, the top diplomat said that humanitarian aids should be distributed fairly and this requires a cohesive mechanism which the Islamic Republic of Iran proposes, as the third point, the ECO Program for Afghanistan due to calendar constraints.

He also mentioned that as the fourth point of the proposal, the countries in the region should form an intelligence-security cooperation mechanism to fight organized crimes and terrorism.

The foreign minister suggested the UN mediation between Afghan parties to reach an agreement on the structure of the future government in Afghanistan.

He also said that the crisis which has concerned all countries neighboring Afghanistan was the legacy of improper interventions by oppressive powers, adding that the US attacked Afghanistan 20 years ago under the pretext of fighting terrorism and caused instability, war and insecurity to persist and be reproduced by its continued military presence.

Instead of moving Afghanistan and its people forward and empower them, Washington escaped the scene in a naïve and irresponsible way and caused the situation today, Amir Abdollahian said.

The foreign minister went on to say that Afghanistan’s neighboring countries are well aware of the importance of the lack of consensus inside the country, in the surrounding region, and international arena as the root of the endurance of the current crisis.

He stressed that Afghanistan’s neighbors have been largely in agreement on Afghanistan due to the depth of their understanding of the situation, urging attempts to be focused on strengthening the agreement.

The history of Afghanistan shows that whenever the interaction between different ethnic groups in the country was looked over, the peace and stability were threatened and that no mechanism would work in Afghanistan without considering social and ethnic observations, Amir Abdollahian explained.

He further named economic poverty, low per capita income, high rate of illiteracy, and lack of professional skills as the motive for individuals to join criminal and terrorist groups who have been encouraged to extend their operational cores to Afghanistan due to a lack of an across-the-board governance that can provide nation-wide security.

Continuance of underdevelopment in Afghanistan would entail nothing but recruitment by criminal and terrorist groups and thus the expansion of terrorism in the region, the Iranian foreign minister underlined.

In relevant remarks in the same meeting on Wednesday, Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber said that after the US irresponsible withdrawal from Afghanistan after decades of inefficiency and occupation now the Afghan people and neighbors should help improve the situation in the war-ravaged country.

When the US ran away from Afghanistan, it put the consequences of its two-decade-long inefficiency and occupation on the shoulder of Afghan people and the neighbors, he said.

Mokhber went on to say that Afghanistan’s security is interrelated with its neighbors.

So, the Islamic Republic of Iran supported Pakistan’s initiative to hold first round of talks between Afghanistan’s neighboring countries and also accepted to be the host of the second round, Mokhber noted, adding that Tehran welcomes the third round to be held in Beijing.

Afghan people have been suffering from instability, insecurity, war, and bloodshed for over four decades, he said, extending his condolences over the killing of prayers and other Afghan people in Kandahar and Kunduz.

Occupation of Afghanistan has brought nothing but insecurity, expansion of terrorism and extremism, destruction of independence, increase in production of narcotics, and economic backwardness, Mokhber underlined.

The US unwise measures in Afghanistan failed, he said, adding that today, it is the duty of the people of Afghanistan and the caretaker government in that country not to let aggressors and reactionary regimes threaten their security.

Mokhber also said that economic crisis is another tragedy in Afghanistan.

Fars News Agency