TEHRAN — A member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has announced that the Taliban will be invited to the next meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors.

The reason that the Taliban had not been invited to meetings in Tehran and Islamabad was that their participation must have been approved by neighbors, Abolfazl Amouei told the Fars news agency on Wednesday. 

However, after the neighbors agreed with the request the Taliban representatives it was scheduled that they attend the next meeting, he said.

The next meeting is scheduled to be hosted by China in 2022. China shares a 46-mile border with Afghanistan.  

Tehran hosted the meeting of the foreign ministers of countries neighboring Afghanistan on October 27. The Chinese foreign minister addressed the conference virtually.

The Russian foreign minister, whose country also hosted a meeting on Afghanistan on …., also addressed the Tehran conference virtually.

Amouei called the summit of Afghanistan's neighbors an important step in matching the views of neighbors toward the developments in the country.

"The joint statement issued after the meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors in Tehran is unprecedented,” the parliamentarian noted, adding in the previous meetings in Islamabad and Moscow the participants had failed to reach a common conclusion. 

The parliamentary committee member stated that the most important point of the Tehran summit was that all the neighbors underlined the need to establish security in Afghanistan and to form an inclusive government that would represent the entire Afghan groups.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan attended the Tehran meeting. The ambassadors of China and Russia were participating at the conference.

"Afghanistan's neighbors' summit is a step forward that has been held by the Islamic Republic of Iran," Amouei remarked.

"At the end of the meeting, it was decided that the next round of meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors to be held in one of Afghanistan's neighboring countries, and we think it will be an effective step at the beginning of the 13th administration."

The 13th administration refers to Ebrahim Raisi’s government which took the helm in August.

"Afghanistan's neighbors' summit was a positive step to explain the Islamic Republic of Iran's position on Afghanistan, as well as a move to make coordination among Afghanistan's neighbors," Amoui pointed out.

The MP added that the representatives of the Taliban were not present at the meeting in Tehran, but it was decided that representatives of Kabul to attend the next meeting. 

"Of course, we were informed that the Taliban welcomed and thanked the holding of the meeting and the joint statement, which shows that the Kabul governing body is paying due attention to the positions of Afghanistan's neighbors."

The parliamentarian highlighted that peace and stability in Afghanistan has a direct impact on the neighboring countries and everyone emphasizes that all must move in the direction of restoring sustainable peace and stability in the country. 

He reiterated that peace and stability of neighbors can only be achieved through formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.