KABUL: A key member of the Taliban’s political office in Doha has blamed the Afghan government for delays in the intra-Afghan negotiations that are aimed at ending the decades of war in the country.
The talks were expected to begin 10 days after the Feb. 29 deal between the US and the Taliban, but it is dependent on the completion of a prisoner exchange by the Afghan government and the Taliban. Shahabuddin Delawar, a key member of the Taliban’s office in Qatar speaking during a virtual discussion with other Afghans, said the release of prisoners should be finalized and that the talks should be carried out with an inclusive delegation from Kabul.
“The responsibility of all bloody incidents over the last four months is on (the Afghan government) because it should have released our 5,000 by March 15. We were ready to release their 1,000 prisoners in 10 days,” Delawar said. The participants also discussed a post-peace government, women’s rights—especially their right to education, work and to participate in elections.
“Is context important or name? I say both because the Islamic emirate (Taliban) is an incumbent rule and an Islamic government must be ruling,” said Din Mohammad Haneef, a member of Taliban’s political office in Doha. “Women have the right to work for the improvement of the country and for the welfare of their families under Islamic regulations that we want that, based on Afghan culture,” Delawar said.
Another member of the office, Noorullah Noori, accused the US of violating the peace agreement, saying the Taliban has not declared a ceasefire with the Afghan forces. “Attacks on checkpoints and districts and public routes will continue as there is no ceasefire between us and Kabul,” Noori said.
The Presidential Palace, meanwhile, criticized the Taliban and said the group has not followed-through on its commitments for peace efforts. “They have not released our captives. You can see the violence level by the Taliban—where it has reached. Terror, murder and attacks on civilians, government employees, religious scholars and hospitals continue,” presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
Meanwhile, a top Iranian diplomat who visited Kabul last week said Iran doubts the US’s will for the peace process in Afghanistan for many reasons, and it sees America’s Afghan presence as “dangerous” and that of a “troublemaker” in the region.
Talking to TOLOnews
in an exclusive interview, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araghchi said the focus should be on the intra-Afghan negotiations, under the current circumstances. The negotiations have faced multiple delays because of disagreements over the prisoners’ exchange between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The intra-Afghan negotiations are expected to happen in the near future as the prisoner exchange is about to be completed.
“We believe that America should not be trusted, and we believe that the US presence in the region is dangerous and will create many disagreements,” Araghchi said. The Iranian diplomat criticized the US for holding talks with the Taliban and inviting them to Doha and making a deal with them.
“Everyone knows who created the Taliban, who has supported them, who is negotiating with them and who is making a deal with them. It is an evident reality. The US, which counts itself an ally of Afghanistan, has negotiated with the Taliban and has made a deal with them,” Araghchi said. “We do not have relations of this type with the Taliban. We had talks with them. They have had trips to Iran, and we have met them. The goal of these meetings has been to encourage their presence in the peace process and intra-Afghan negotiations.”
Araghchi rejected allegations that the Iranian government armed the Taliban. “We have contact with all groups in Afghanistan because we have more than 1,000 kilometers of border with Afghanistan and because we have seen the damage from changes in Afghanistan for years,” Araghchi said, adding that Iran is not negotiating with the Taliban regarding Afghanistan.
“It might be a few years that we have had contact with (the Taliban), as we have had contacts with other groups. We have listened to their views and have shared our views,” he said. “At one point (the Taliban’s) representative traveled to Iran. I talked to him. Another representative (of the Taliban) also visited Iran who met with our foreign minister.”
Araghchi said the Taliban does not have an office in Iran and that “the Shurai Mashhad (Mashhad council) is something that the Taliban might have made themselves but does not exist from our point of view.” In response to a question about reports of Afghan refugees being used in Iran’s war in Syria in recent years, Araghchi said they praise this act by Afghan refugees.
“The forces who are known as Fatemiyoun are those who sacrificed their blood for the security of Afghanistan and the region,” he said. “There was no force in place.” Two incidents happened in Iran and on its borders with Afghanistan involving Afghan refugees living in that country. Back in May, a group of Afghans who wanted to cross the border to Iran in areas adjacent to Herat province were “beaten and forced by Iranian border police to cross a river” and the majority of them were reportedly drowned.
On June 6, three Afghan migrants were killed, and four others were wounded after their vehicle was shot by Iranian police in Yazd province and started on fire. Iranian officials at that time confirmed that the vehicle was shot. The two incidents sparked outrage among Afghans, in the country and abroad. Investigations into the two incidents, however, ended without results.
Araghchi called the Yazd incident “very bad” and tragic and said it was regretted by all Iranians, including him, and that the incident might have happened to anyone — other refugees and Iranians, as well as Afghan refugees. “We should act in a way that the possibility of such incidents is low,” he said. “The most important action is to establish a legal process for the presence of foreign nationals and Afghan nationals in Iran.”
On the drowning incident, he said that Iranian authorities investigated the incident and found that there was “no intention” for this to happen from the Iranian forces.