Iran lambasting Taliban for marginalizing minorities
New tensions are arising between the Taliban movement and the Iranian regime after the formation of the government in Kabul, without giving a ministerial quota to different ethnic groups in the country.
Tehran has expressed concern over
the new government formation, saying it does not represent all Afghans.
It called on all parties to
negotiate to form a government that is inclusive and diverse.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman,
Saeed Khatibzadeh, said the interim Afghan government is certainly not the
comprehensive government that the international community and the Islamic
Republic of Iran were waiting for.
He added at a press briefing on
Monday that Iran would wait to see how the Taliban would respond to
international demands.
Almost all the ministers in the new
Taliban government are Pashtuns. Some of the ministers were prominent Taliban
figures during the movement's rule of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.
Iran called earlier for all groups
and political forces in Afghanistan to refrain from using force and engage in
negotiations and dialogue.
Khatibzadeh said his country maintains
permanent channels of communication with all political parties in this neighboring
country.
Criticism
The Iranian position led to sharp
criticism to Tehran, whose government is not based on ethnic diversity.
Iran also persecutes non-Persian members
of the population and refuses to include them in power.
Relations between Iran and the
Taliban were tense during the previous period, especially during the movement's
rule of Afghanistan.
Tehran did not recognize it at the
time. The two countries were on the brink of war in
1998.
Recently, however, Iran, which
shares a border with Afghanistan of more than 900 kilometers, has refrained
from criticizing the hard-line Sunni movement that took power in and seized
Kabul on August 15.
Nonetheless, on September 6, Tehran
condemned the Taliban's attack on the Panjshir Valley which contained the last stronghold
of resistance to it.
