Iran Not To Recognize Taliban: FM Amirabdollahian
ISWNews Analysis Group – Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hossein Amirabdollahian has explained Tehran’s position on Afghanistan, saying that the Islamic Republic does not recognize the Taliban caretaker government in Afghanistan and only supports the formation of an inclusive government in the neighboring country.
Amirabdollahian made the remarks in a meeting between Iran’s Foreign Ministry officials and heads of its diplomatic missions abroad with the custodian of Imam Khomeini’s holy shrine Hassan Khomeini in Tehran on May 25.
The foreign minister said we are dissatisfied that an inclusive government has not been formed in Afghanistan and we have also announced the issue to the current rulers of Afghanistan; so, we do not recognize the current governing body of Afghanistan and we emphasize the need for the formation of an inclusive government in the neighboring state. Moreover, the Taliban group is just a fraction of the political reality in Afghanistan, but it is not the whole reality.
The foreign minister further referred to the neighborliness of Iran and Afghanistan as well as the long borders between the two countries, saying the scattered border clashes that have occasionally happened on the Afghanistan- Iran borderlines in recent months are a source of concern.
According to the top diplomat, there is no way but interaction between the two neighboring countries, and that we do not want the bitter incident of Mazar-i-Sharif to be repeated, but we want to help realize peace and security in Afghanistan and we also have expectations from the current rulers of the neighboring state.
Amirabdollahian pointed to Iran’s water rights from the Helmand River, adding that we have had talks with Afghan officials on the issue and we are of the opinion that the legal path should be considered in this regard on the basis of water-sharing treaty, which was signed in 1973. We told Afghan officials that the water rights issue cannot be resolved through a political statement and must be pursued within the framework of legal actions, he noted.
The Iranian foreign minister also described the Taliban caretaker government’s policy in facing women and girls as inhumane and emphasized that Iran considers the policy contrary to the teachings of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH).
Rhetorical tensions between Taliban and Iran escalated after the Taliban rulers replied negatively Iran’s repeated diplomatic requests for the implementation of the 1973 treaty on Iran’s water rights from the Helmand River, claiming that the Afghans are facing drought and lack of water in the Kajaki Dam, which is an earth and rock-fill embankment type dam located on the Helmand River in the Kajaki District of Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
The Taliban rulers also rejected Iran’s request to dispatch a technical delegation to verify the amount of water in the Kajaki Dam.
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