FM Zarif: Afghan people must determine own fate
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says national talks are the sole way out of the conflict gripping Afghanistan, and that any agreement on restoring peace to the war-ravaged country should guarantee its right to decide its own political future.
Addressing the 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) ministerial conference in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe on Tuesday, Zarif highlighted Iran's efforts to create convergence in the region and help Afghanistan play a role in regional developments.
Zarif said the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the war-ravaged country would only be possible on the basis of intra-Afghan talks, stressing that the Islamic Republic would continue efforts to facilitate such negotiations.
Extensive talks at the Heart of Asia mtg in Dushanbe.Afghanistan, regional & global issues, & bilateral coop were on agenda w/ Presidents & FMs of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, & FMs of Azerbaijan, India, Pakistan, Turkey.Stressed UN role in inclusive Afghanistan peace talks. pic.twitter.com/UtugiMrsS1
- Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 30, 2021
The top diplomat called on the United Nations and regional neighbors to help facilitate the peace talks among Afghan groups.
Zarif hailed the Afghan people's valuable achievements in establishing the rule of law and drafting a constitution, slamming as "unconstructive" the solutions devised by certain extra-regional players for the conflict, which are in fact meant to advance their personal political agendas.
The peace talks have been underway since September last year, with the Afghan groups struggling to make headway amid serious differences between them, primarily due to a lack of clarity in a deal reached between the Taliban and the United States earlier.
The US-Taliban deal calls for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for a halt in the militant group's attacks on international forces.
Under the so-called Doha Accord, the former US administration promised to bring the number of US forces in Afghanistan to zero by May 2021.
Although the new US administration led by Joe Biden has sought a review of the deal, experts say the principal US policy on Afghanistan remains the same, full of ambiguity and double-speak.
Now with weeks left to the May 1 deadline, Washington is vigorously pushing the administration of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to share power with the militant group, which has not gone down well with Kabul.
The Taliban, which have held a series of consultations with regional countries in recent months, have so far rejected a ceasefire and said they would not directly join an interim government.