Peace Should Be Reached via Inter-Afghan Consensus: Iran

“The Taliban as a group that exists in Afghanistan and plays a role (in the country’s developments) is an undeniable reality,” Mousavi told reporters during a video conference in Tehran on Monday.

“All paths to peace and stability in Afghanistan must be through an inter-Afghan consensus and should be led by the Afghan government,” he added.

“As for the Taliban-US cooperation and negotiations that led to an agreement in Qatar, we support every effort for stability and security in Afghanistan but we have doubts about the US’ intention,” the spokesman went on to say.

He added that the US presence in the region is illegal and Washington has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the regional countries.

US officials and Taliban representatives on Saturday signed an agreement after months of negotiations in Qatar’s capital.

The agreement was signed in Doha in the presence of leaders from Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The landmark deal may already be facing obstacles as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that his government had not agreed to a clause set out in the deal.

Ghani objected to arrangements within the deal that would see the Afghan government release 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a condition for direct talks between the armed group and the government.

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