Daily Times

Islamabad: Pakistan has appreciated Iran’s direct intervention with the Taliban and the Afghan government in sheer need of a negotiated agreement in the war-stricken country. “Pakistan welcomes Iran’s engagement with Afghan parties to achieve a negotiated political settlement,” said Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry

Zahid Hafeez stated that Pakistan sees Iran as an “important country in the Afghan peace process. “Iran, like Pakistan, is a neighboring country of Afghanistan and host to millions of Afghan refugees,” Hafeez noted. He hoped that Afghan parties would make a vital yet helpful use of the very opportunity to “achieve an comprehensive, broad-based and inclusive political settlement”.

As fighting takes a new high in Afghanistan, According to the sources, the  Taliban representatives met an Afghan government Power-Sharing formula for Afghanistan to be proposed by Pakistan: Shah Mahmooddelegation in Tehran on Wednesday. The news was confirmed by the Tehran foreign ministry, as the Taliban claim to take control of the major districts and cities in the country.

Briefing about Tehran talks, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appreciated the departure of its foe, the US, from its eastern borders, moreover, he also stated that: “Today the people and political leaders of Afghanistan must make difficult decisions for the future of their country.”

Leading negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai headed the Taliban delegation while former vice president Younus Qanooni represented the government, the Iranian ministry briefed. Zarif welcomed the “defeat” of US troops after two decades of war that had caused “major damage” but warned of the “unfavorable results of continuing the conflict in Afghanistan”. Iran hosts several million Afghan refugees and migrant workersand plays a vital role in regional stability, the country is deeply concerned about the increasing chaos in Afghanistan.

Zarif asked and welcomed the concerned parties in Afghanistan to return to the negotiating table, calling “commitment to political solutions the best choice for Afghanistan’s leaders and political movements”. “We are proud to have stood alongside our noble Afghan brothers and sisters during the jihad against the foreign occupiers,” he added, in a video extract of his speech released by the ministry.