Iran hosts conference on political future of Afghanistan

Iran is planning a conference in the capital Tehran next Wednesday on the political future and the formation of a new government in Afghanistan.

“The conference on October 27 will be attended by foreign ministers from neighboring countries and a representative from Russia,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

According to Khatibzadeh, Iran will argue at the meeting for a government in which all political groups “including the Taliban” are represented. “What Iran wants in Afghanistan is peace. What it doesn’t want are violence and terrorism.

All neighboring countries will assist the Afghan people on that path,” the spokesman said at a news conference in Tehran.

In Iran itself, there is still no unanimity about how the government should deal with the Islamic Taliban. Some political circles suggest that the Taliban have changed and are no longer the Islamic movement of recent years.

However, others argue that recent developments have proved just the opposite. Moreover, the latter say, Shia Iran will always remain a religious nemesis of the Sunni Taliban fighters.