TEHRAN -- Iran said Sunday peace and stability in Afghanistan is only possible through the formation of a broad-based government in the war-ravaged country.
Iran’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Muhammad Ebrahim Taherian, made the remarks in a virtual meeting with special envoys from other neighboring countries of Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Iran’s envoy stressed that due attention should be paid to the suffering and problems of people of Afghanistan.
“Peace and calm in this country is impossible to take hold unless through establishment of an inclusive and broad-based government with the participation of all ethnic groups.”
He said Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian had held phone calls with his Chinese and Russian counterparts and agreed to hold a virtual meeting at the ministerial level of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries on Wednesday.
The Iranian diplomat expressed hope that the meeting of foreign ministers would clearly and strongly support the Afghan people in the establishment of an inclusive government under the current circumstances in Afghanistan.
Amir-Abdollahian and his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a Saturday phone conversation, agreed that Afghanistan’s neighbors hold a virtual summit to discuss the latest chain of events following the hasty and ill-planned withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and the Taliban’s takeover.
Amir-Abdollahian has also held phone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi over the issue of Afghanistan.
The Iranian and Chinese foreign ministers stressed the importance of establishing an inclusive government in Afghanistan with the participation of all ethnicities and groups. They also laid emphasis on fighting terrorism and narcotics, dispatching humanitarian aid, and keeping border crossings open.
They held the United States responsible for the current crisis in Afghanistan.
The Taliban are poised to run Afghanistan again 20 years after they were removed from power by the invading forces of the United States and its allies in 2001.
The Taliban’s deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday that the group was in the process of forming an inclusive government.