The Taliban leadership in Afghanistan opted out of a major regional meeting held in Iran’s capital Tehran on Sunday.
The one-day event was a regional meeting of special representatives of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries plus Russia
Envoys from Afghanistan’s neighbours Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China as well as Russia participated in the multilateral meeting to discuss recent developments in the country ruled by Taliban officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who kicked off the gathering in Tehran said there was “no trans-regional solution that can solve regional problems and crisis”.
“Based on experience, neighbours can be the most natural and reliable solution,” he added,
“As a matter of fact, Iran has always emphasised the centrality of neighbours in every initiative related to Afghanistan,” official IRNA news agency quoted him saying.
Sunday’s talks in Tehran were significant particularly, because of participation of China and Russia.
Their support to the meeting was seen as a sign that major powers viewed the escalating Pakistan-Afghan tensions as a threat to regional stability.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry told a weekly press conference that Iran “respects” Kabul’s decision not to participate in the Tehran meeting despite all relevant countries including Afghanistan being invited.
“Iran believes that Afghanistan's participation in such processes can help strengthen understanding and resolve problems between Afghanistan and neighbouring countries,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Last week, unconfirmed reports in Pakistan local media said Iran was planning to host a meeting this week to mediate between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Since October, Islamabad and the Taliban-led Interim Government have clashed over militant groups which Pakistan says are carrying out terrorist attacks from Afghanistan.
In the meantime, Iran has stepped up its efforts to help resolve tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Iran is extremely concerned over ongoing conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan and is ready to contribute to settlement of their differences and deescalation of tension,” Baghaei said.
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