Iranian Envoy Calls for Efforts to Prevent Civil War in Afghanistan

Taherian Fard made the remarks in a phone conversation with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

In the phone talks, the two sides discussed the latest security developments in Afghanistan, stressing the need to resolve issues through peaceful measures.

They also conferred on the latest status of negotiations and peace talks between the Taliban and Afghanistan's central government.

Taherian Fard, for his part, stressed the need to resolve the current crisis in Afghanistan through peaceful measures and to prevent a civil war in the country.

A senior Iranian diplomat had warned on Wednesday that Washington which is withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan after two decades of failure has plotted to wage a war among Afghan groups.

“I believe that the US experienced undisputable defeat in Afghanistan. The US was left with no option and its retreat is irreversible,” Director-General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry for South Asia Affairs Seyed Rasoul Mousavi said, addressing a meeting in Tehran.

He warned that the US is now plotting a new war in Afghanistan, and added, “The US new war in Afghanistan is an intra-Afghan war which is highly dangerous for the future of the region and the neighbors and efforts should be made to prevent this new war.”

Iran shares more than 900 kilometers of border with Afghanistan. The provinces of Herat, Farah and Nimroz in Afghanistan are bordered by the provinces of Khorassan Razavi, South Khorassan and Sistan and Balouchestan in Iran.

Over the past weeks, the Taliban have overrun areas in Afghanistan bordering five countries – Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China and Pakistan.

Last Friday, the militant group claimed that it had seized control of 85 percent of Afghan territory, a declaration government officials dismissed as part of a propaganda campaign.

The Taliban gains come amid the withdrawal of US-led troops from the country after two decades of war and occupation.

Last week Tehran hosted talks among different Afghan groups.

The Afghan leaders participating in Tehran meeting in a statement last Thursday underlined the need for ending war and conflicts to resolve the crisis in the country, hailing Tehran's efforts to this end.

The statement issued in 6 paragraphs was confirmed by the officials of the Afghan government and the Taliban political leaders who attended the second day of intra-Afghan talks in Tehran on Thursday.

"The delegations commend the efforts and goodwill of the Islamic Republic of Iran in securing peace in Afghanistan as well as its hospitality toward Afghan representatives," the statement said.

"Stating that war is not the solution to the Afghanistan crisis, both sides agree that the continuation of the civil war is dangerous and it would hurt Afghanistan's situation. All efforts must be directed towards a political and peaceful solution," it added.

"The conversations took place in a cordial atmosphere and all issues were discussed in detail and explicitly," the third paragraph of the statement said.

"Some critical issues such as permanent peace, the agreed Islamic system, and how to achieve it, will be discussed and concluded during the next meeting, which will be held as soon as possible," it underlined.

"The parties consider the intra-Afghan meeting held in Tehran as a new opportunity to strengthen the political solution to the Afghanistan problem," the statement said.

"Both sides strongly condemn the attacks on homes, offices, mosques, hospitals as well as the destruction of public institutions that result in the death of Afghans, and demand that the perpetrators be punished," it concluded.

During the first round of intra-Afghan talks in Tehran last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed the Islamic Republic of Iran's readiness to support the process of intra-Afghan peace talks in order to resolve the current conflicts and crises in Afghanistan.

The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was chaired by Yunus Qanuni, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, and the Taliban delegation was headed by Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the deputy head of the Taliban’s political office in this round of talks.