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KABUL: The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has said Afghanistan’s current problems are a direct offshoot of wrong policies adopted by the United States during 20 years of its presence in the war-torn country.
Ali Shamkhani made the remarks in a Sunday meeting with the visiting Kyrgyz Republic Security Council Vice Chairman.
Referring to the latest developments in Afghanistan, Iran’s security chief said, “The current complicated conditions in the region, especially the situation in Afghanistan, are the result of wrong policies adopted by the United States, which only created crises, and the outcome of over 20 years of Washington’s aggression and occupation of Afghanistan.”
“Given the necessity for the establishment of peace, stability and sustainable security in Afghanistan, we believe that formation of an inclusive government, as an umbrella for all Afghan ethnic groups, is an important factor for the realization of this goal,” Iran’s top security official added.
The Taliban wrested control of Afghanistan in August after a fierce offensive facilitated by a flash withdrawal of all of the United States’ forces from the country that had been announced by Washington back in April. The government of Afghanistan rapidly collapsed on August 15, with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country in the face of lightning advances of the Taliban.
The group has pledged to allow the formation of a broad-based and representative government. Concerns, however, remain given its drawn-out history of violence.
Iran has repeatedly reaffirmed the need for the establishment of a broad-based government in Afghanistan and the improvement of the situation in the country but emphasized that Tehran would never join a one-sided mechanism designed by the United States and other extra-regional countries on Kabul.
