Iran Welcomes Bid to Form Coordination Council by Afghan Leaders
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s outgoing Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that violence and war would never solve the problems in neighboring Afghanistan, saying Tehran welcomes the proposal for the formation of a Coordination Council by the Afghan leaders.
"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 the Taliban 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, Press TV reported.
“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.
