Iran, Neighbors Should Pressure Taliban into Forming Inclusive Government
The Taliban were aware that they could not rule Afghanistan as people are sensitive to ethnic issues but they offered some promises to prepare the ground in order to reinforce their power, Fada Hossein Maleki told IQNA in an interview on Tuesday.
Maleki, who has also served as Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, added that the Taliban's swift dominance over the country is rooted in Americans' performance. "The US' presence in Afghanistan neither had any achievement for the Afghan nation, nor could it secure US strategies."
Americans, he continued, were seeking to establish a base in the region to monitor Iran, China, and Russia but huge costs led to Trump's decision to withdraw forces.
After Daesh terrorists' heavy defeat in Iraq and Syria, the US decided to transfer the terror group to Afghanistan but the Afghan people did not accept this, so Washington started negotiations with the Taliban. The talks gave the Taliban their required legitimacy, he lamented.
Talking about the features of the group, the former envoy added, "Some sections of the Taliban may have changed due to their links with the outside world but the dominant culture and thinking of the group is the same as the one 20 years ago."
Elsewhere, asked about the intervention of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in Afghanistan's internal affairs, the MP noted that Talibs cannot even use the weapons left by Americans in the country and it is the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan that is training the group. The chief of the ISI has been reported in Kabul since Taliban took power and Pakistani forces also came to Taliban's help during Panjshir conflict, added the ex-envoy, urging Tehran to closely monitor such interventions in Afghanistan's internal affairs.
Maleki added that different countries are expressing concerns over the violation of rights of women, media, and ethnic groups by the Taliban.
He also said that Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has held talks with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the issue. "The focus of the talks was that efforts should be made so that neighboring countries would become sensitive towards Afghanistan developments and hence, put pressure on the Taliban to form an inclusive government."
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