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War, violence, like occupation, no solution to Afghanistan’s problems: Iran Foreign Minister

Soldiers from Afghan Security forces travel on an armed vehicle along a road in Panjshir province of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has rejected war and violence as a solution to the existing problems in the neighboring Afghanistan, reiterating Iran’s support for the establishment of sustainable peace in the war-ravaged country.

"War and violence, like occupation, have never been and will never be a way out of Afghanistan's problems," Zarif said in a Sunday tweet after Taliban forces entered the Afghan capital and the country's President Ashraf Ghani left for a yet uncertain destination.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its efforts to [help realize] reconciliation in Afghanistan,” the top diplomat added.

Zarif's tweet came after former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, announced via a Sunday Twitter post the establishment of a coordination council, attended by high-ranking Afghan officials, including the country's chief peace negotiator with the Taliban, Abdullah Abdullah, to be responsible for the “peaceful transfer of power” and reduce the possibility of further chaos and insecurity that would harm the Afghan people.

Karzai noted that the council was formed after Ghani and other officials left the country in order to manage Afghanistan's affairs in the best possible manner and pave the way for the peaceful transition of power.

“The initiative by [our Afghan] brothers in the coordination council and other Afghan leaders can prepare the ground for dialogue and a peaceful transfer to sustainable peace,” Zarif tweeted.

 

Earlier on Sunday, a Taliban spokesman said the group expected a "peaceful transition of power” in the next few days after the militants entered Afghanistan's capital Kabul with little resistance amid evacuation of US diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.

"We are awaiting a peaceful transfer of power" as soon as possible, Suhail Shaheen said in an interview with BBC on Sunday, adding the Taliban expected that to happen in a matter of days.

Afghanistan's TOLO news agency quoted two sources as saying that Ghani has left the country.

According to the sources, his close aides have also left the country along with him.


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