Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and Foreign Ministry to closely monitor developments in Afghanistan, pledging that his country would make efforts to ensure stability in the neighboring country.
As for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Raisi said it amounted to “military defeat.”
Moreover, Raisi discussed Afghan developments with outgoing Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“America’s military defeat and its withdrawal must become an opportunity to restore life, security, and durable peace in Afghanistan,” Raisi was quoted as telling Zarif.
The president also reaffirmed that ensuring stability is “Afghanistan’s utmost need today.”
“Iran backs efforts to restore stability in Afghanistan and, as a neighboring and brother nation, Iran invites all groups in Afghanistan to reach a national agreement,” Reuters quoted Raisi as saying.
“While consciously monitoring developments in the country, Iran is committed to neighborly relations,” Raisi added, asking the Iranian foreign minister and the SNSC secretary to monitor Afghan developments “accurately and closely and to submit reports to the presidency.”
In a Monday tweet, SNSC Secretary Ali Shamkhani reiterated support to the people of Afghanistan.
“As in the last 40 years, we support the people of Afghanistan and their will,” said the secretary of the high-ranking Iranian institution.
For the first time, Shamkhani admitted that his meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul in January 2019 was “full of challenges” without going into details.
Shamkhani said that recent remarks by General Bismillah Mohammadi, Afghanistan’s acting Minister for National Defense, highlighted “the effects of the 20-year US occupation of Afghanistan and the depth of Washington’s infiltration and influence in the country’s government.”
Earlier this month, then-President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan on Sunday, became one of the most senior officials to take part in Raisi’s inauguration ceremony in Tehran.
Zarif on Monday met with Yue Xiaoyong, China’s special envoy to Afghanistan, in Tehran.
The two discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan.
A statement by the Iranian foreign ministry said Zarif emphasized the necessity for preventing more violence and war. He also referred to the displacement of Afghan citizens and their taking refuge in neighboring countries as one of the most critical and urgent aspects of developments in Afghanistan.
