Tehran to host regional meeting on Afghanistan

KABUL: Tehran will host a ministerial meeting with Afghanistan’s neighboring countries on Wednesday and hold talks on inclusivity within the Afghan government and stability inside the country.

The Islamic Emirate is not invited to the meeting yet, but a spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, Zabiullah Mujahid, said he hopes the meeting’s outcome will benefit Afghanistan. It is reported that the meeting will mainly focus on topics of peace and stability and an inclusive government in Afghanistan. “We are aware that the meeting will be held. The meeting relates to neighbours, and we are not invited,” Zabiullah Mujahid said. The foreign ministers and political representatives of Pakistan, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Russia will gather to discuss the formation of an inclusive government and other Afghan issues.

“The meetings (held previously and in Iran meeting) will affect Afghanistan’s situation positively or negatively; in any event, it is a window of hope that the Iran meeting will discuss and analyse a range of issues,” said Hafizurahman Naqi, a member of the Hizb-e-Islami Party. Since the collapse of the previous government, it is the second regional meeting to be held on Afghanistan. “In the condition that regional and international contributions to Afghanistan are declining, any kind of meeting will benefit the country,” said Badul Haq Emad, political analyst.

In the meantime, the acting foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate, Amir Khan Mutaqi, met Iranian ambassador Bahadur Aminian, the ministry of foreign affairs said and the two sides discussed multiple issues, including political and economic relations and as well as immigrants’ problems in Iran. The Iranian embassy in Kabul released a statement and said that the formation of an inclusive government, peace and stability, economic challenges, and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a haven for terrorists, will be discussed in the meeting.