diplomacy
Afghanistan conference will take place in Tehran next week
Taliban fighters stand guard in front of a police station in Kabul. Photo: Oliver Weiken / dpa / archive
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Iran and Afghanistan share a border that is almost 1,000 kilometers long. Now Tehran wants to discuss Afghanistan’s political future with other neighboring countries. But there are differences in Iran.
Iran will host a conference in the capital Tehran next week on the political future and the formation of a new government of Afghanistan.
“Foreign ministers from neighboring countries and a representative from Russia will take part in the conference on Wednesday next week (October 27),” said Foreign Office spokesman Said Khatibsadeh.
According to Chatibsadeh, Iran will advocate a government in which all political groups, “including the Taliban”, are represented. Tehran will also take part in the discussions in Moscow on the situation in Afghanistan. What Iran wants in Afghanistan is peace, what it doesn’t want is violence and terrorism. In this way, all neighboring countries should stand by the Afghan people, said the spokesman at a press conference in Tehran.
Differences in dealing with the Taliban
In Iran there are still differences over how to deal with the militant Islamist Taliban. Some political circles in Tehran believe that the Taliban have changed and are no longer the Islamist movement of recent years. However, others say that recent developments have proven just the opposite. In addition, Shiite Iran remains a religious archenemy for the Sunni Taliban extremists.
A new wave of refugees feared by Tehran, such as that after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, has so far failed to materialize. According to observers, the reasons are the acute economic crisis in Iran and the strict controls due to the corona pandemic. The temporary buffer zones that were set up at the three border crossings in the north and south-east of the country are said to have remained empty so far.