NEW DELHI: Iran has said it would be better to have intra-Afghan talks rather than working for a peace deal with the Taliban. Speaking to a group of journalists here, Iran’s ambassador to India Ali Chegeni said, “Taliban wants an emirate. It doesn’t want a republic. There will be no role for the people in an emirate. That makes it dangerous.”
Chegeni was responding to questions about the collapsed peace talks between the US and the Taliban, which were called off at the last minute by US President Donald Trump.
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif tweeted, “Gravely concerned about Afghanistan. Defeated foreigners must leave and fratricide must end, especially as foreigners can exploit the situation, bringing renewed bloodshed. Iran prepared to work with Afghan government and parties — as well as neighbours — to forge a lasting end to violence.”
Chegeni said the Taliban did not recognise the elected government in Kabul. “The existing institutions should not be destroyed,” he said, adding that the US had asked Iran to participate which Tehran declined because the elected government had been kept out. The talks, he said, needed to be held “under one roof, which, in this case, is the Afghan constitution”. In the absence of such a framework, civil war and continued violence would be the only result, he added.
Now that the US-Taliban deal is shelved, at least for the time being, the two big questions would be what happens to the presidential elections, which are scheduled for September 28, and what happens to the Oslo talks which were supposed to kick off an intra-Afghan dialogue.
The general feeling is that if the elections are pushed through at this point, when many candidates have either pulled out or have halted their campaigns, this could put the credibility of the entire exercise into question and be a point in the Taliban’s favour.
Chegeni was responding to questions about the collapsed peace talks between the US and the Taliban, which were called off at the last minute by US President Donald Trump.
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif tweeted, “Gravely concerned about Afghanistan. Defeated foreigners must leave and fratricide must end, especially as foreigners can exploit the situation, bringing renewed bloodshed. Iran prepared to work with Afghan government and parties — as well as neighbours — to forge a lasting end to violence.”
Chegeni said the Taliban did not recognise the elected government in Kabul. “The existing institutions should not be destroyed,” he said, adding that the US had asked Iran to participate which Tehran declined because the elected government had been kept out. The talks, he said, needed to be held “under one roof, which, in this case, is the Afghan constitution”. In the absence of such a framework, civil war and continued violence would be the only result, he added.
Now that the US-Taliban deal is shelved, at least for the time being, the two big questions would be what happens to the presidential elections, which are scheduled for September 28, and what happens to the Oslo talks which were supposed to kick off an intra-Afghan dialogue.
The general feeling is that if the elections are pushed through at this point, when many candidates have either pulled out or have halted their campaigns, this could put the credibility of the entire exercise into question and be a point in the Taliban’s favour.
more from times of india news
Get the app