TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on Sunday for a “all-inclusive” Afghan government to be established during a meeting in Tehran with the Taliban delegation, the ministry said.
A delegation from the movement led by its co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrived in Iran on Tuesday at the invitation of the ministry to share “opinions on the peace process in Afghanistan.”
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The tour comes as peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban began in the Qatari capital of Doha in early January, aimed at resolving a two-decade war.
According to a ministry release, political decisions should not be taken in a vacuum,” Zarif told the delegation.
“In a participatory process and taking into account the fundamental structures, institutions and laws, such as the constitution, the formation of an all-inclusive government must take place,” he said.
He also welcomed the concept of creating a “all-inclusive government with all ethnic and political groups participating.”
“Zarif expressed hope that the Taliban would “base attention on bringing an immediate end to the pains of the Afghan people, so that peace-building in Afghanistan would rob outsiders of a justification for occupation.
Iran has previously called on the armies of its arch rival, the United States, to withdraw from its eastern neighbour, Afghanistan.
On Friday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani urged new US President Joe Biden to place pressure on the Taliban and not rush to take more troops out of Afghanistan.
His appeal came days after the Biden administration announced it was preparing to rethink a contract between former President Donald Trump and the Taliban in February 2020.
In return for the Taliban avoiding attacks on US troops, sharply reducing the level of conflict in the country and progressing peace talks with the government in Kabul, the deal entails the full withdrawal of US soldiers from Afghanistan by May 2021.
Since the ouster of the Taliban by a US-led intervention following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Kabul has been calling for a permanent truce and to safeguard governance arrangements in place.
But across Afghanistan, unrest has intensified, with the Taliban refusing to make concessions.
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