Iran hosts talks on Afghan; Kabul stays away

TEHRAN: Afghanistan’s neighbours met in Iran and agreed to deepen regional

coordination to address political, economic and security challenges, as well as calling for sanctions on Afghanistan to be lifted.

China, Pakistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan all joined the talks organized by Iran, as did Russia, according to a statement released after the meeting on Sunday.

Afghanistan was invited but decided not to attend. Its Taliban-led govt was tight-lipped on the reasons, with foreign ministry saying

only that it would not participate because Afghanistan “currently maintains active

engagement with regional countries through existing regional

organizations and formats, and has made good progress in this regard.”

The statement from the talks in Iran stressed the importance of maintaining economic and trade ties

with Afghanistan to improve living conditions and called for country’s integration into regional political and economic processes.

The Taliban were isolated after they retook power in Afghanistan in August 2021, but in the past year, they have developed

diplomatic ties.