The internal situation in Afghanistan, which is a geostrategically important country, has a major effect on peace and security in the region. 

 

Any step taken toward establishing security in the country will not only help the Afghan people build a brighter future but will also give a huge boost to the endeavors to establish world peace.

 

Over the past few decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has suffered a great deal due to the instability of Afghanistan. Thus, any regional and global initiative to improve the security situation of the country is welcomed by the Iranian government because it can serve Iran’s national security interests.

 

In line with this policy, the trilateral summit between the presidents of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, which is scheduled to be held in Islamabad from February 16 to 17, will be a step forward for the efforts to bolster regional cooperation and establish peace and security in the region.

 

The relentless waves of violence and bloodshed battering Afghanistan have dashed the people’s hope that peace can be established in the country. The NATO-led occupation of the past 10 years has not improved the security situation on the ground. Western governments are claiming that they have facilitated Afghanistan’s transition from the old tribal system into a new democracy. However, the people of Afghanistan are still suffering due to the presence of the Taliban in many key areas, terrorism, the attacks on cities and villages, and the rise in drug trafficking. 

 

According to the agreement signed by NATO and Afghanistan at the NATO meeting in Lisbon in 2010, foreign forces must leave the country by the end of 2014. The withdrawal of foreign troops can have a positive effect on the security situation, and the people and government of Afghanistan will then be able to take responsibility for the security of their own country. However, according to recent reports, the United States is holding discussions with Kabul on the establishment of permanent military bases in the country in order to establish hegemony over the region. This proves that U.S. officials are more concerned about their own strategic objectives than the establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan.  

 

The rise in the production and trafficking of opium in Afghanistan will also have a negative impact on regional and international efforts to solve the country’s problems. The terrorist groups in Afghanistan are mainly financed by drug traffickers and only use the money obtained from them on activities that make the situation worse. The British forces, which were assigned the responsibility of leading the anti-drug campaign in Afghanistan in 2011, have failed miserably. The cultivation and trafficking of opium rose more than 40-fold in 2011. All this proves that NATO’s 10-year effort to establish peace and security in Afghanistan has accomplished nothing.

 

Rather than relying on extra-regional players to establish peace in Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran is seriously committed to regional solutions. 

 

The Afghan government seems to have lost faith in the international community’s pledges to help establish peace and security in the country and is now more inclined to regional initiatives. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also worried about the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar. Many Afghan analysts believe that through its opening to the Taliban and other mistakes, the U.S. is undermining the constructive agreements reached at the Bonn Conference.  

 

Meanwhile, Pakistan has adopted a new policy toward its neighbors, and especially Afghanistan, in order to stabilize its position in the region. Islamabad and Kabul have both responded positively to Iran’s new initiative to restore peace and thwart the Western powers’ military plans in the region. 

 

Iran hopes that the trilateral summit in Islamabad can promote regional cooperation and help establish peace and stability in Afghanistan.