TEHRAN - Mohsen Rouhisefat, an expert on international affairs, has said that Iran supports talks among Afghans.

“We believe the initiative should be taken by Afghans,” Rouhanisefat told ISNA in an interview published on Wednesday.

He expressed hope that peace in Afghanistan would be established by the Afghan people and political groups.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday that Tehran fully backs intra-Afghan talks to settle the long-running conflict in the country.

“We reject any foreign interference in this respect. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has capacities that can be used to help establish peace and stability in Afghanistan,” he said.

Iran’s embassy in Kabul has issued a statement reiterating Tehran’s support for peace talks in Afghanistan led by the Afghan leaders.

Mohammad Ebrahim Taherianfard, the special envoy of Iran’s foreign minister for Afghanistan, on Sunday said, “Iran highlights the necessity of establishing peace based on inter-Afghan talks led by the Afghan leaders.”

Nozar Shafiei, an expert on international affairs, has said that if peace in Afghanistan is based on the Afghans’ interests, Iran will support it.

Late in February, the U.S. and Taliban negotiators signed an agreement in Qatar that was supposed to end 19 years of war in Afghanistan and allow President Donald Trump to begin the promised withdrawal of American troops.

The deal imposes obligations on the Afghan government, however, negotiations that led to the agreement did not involve the Afghan government’s representatives. 

The four-page pact spells out a timetable for the United States to withdraw its 13,000 troops from Afghanistan; in exchange, the Taliban agreed to sever its ties with al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks against the U.S.

The agreement was supposed to set the stage for further negotiations between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban, a militant group that once ruled Afghanistan.

Iran has opposed the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan and has expressed readiness to cooperate with any effort for intra-Afghan dialogue.

NA/PA