Iran 'strongly' condemns Taliban offensive on Panjshir Valley

Iran on Monday "strongly" condemned the Taliban's military offensive against holdout fighters in Afghanistan's Panjashir Valley as the Islamist group claimed it had taken control of the area. "The news coming from Panjshir is truly worrying," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters. "The assault is strongly condemned." Iran, the region's dominant Muslim Shiite power, had until now refrained from criticising the Taliban since the Sunni group seized Kabul on August 15.

"On the question of Panjshir, I have insisted on the fact that it be resolved by dialogue in the presence of all the Afghan elders," Khatibzadeh said. The Taliban must equally respect their obligations in terms of international law, and their commitments," he added, affirming that "Iran will work to put an end to all the suffering of the Afghan people in favour of establishing a representative government for all Afghans.

Alluding to Pakistan, Khatibzadeh said Iran condemned "all foreign interference" in Afghan affairs. "We would like to inform our friends, and those who might make the strategic error of entering Afghanistan with different intentions, that Afghanistan is not a country which accepts the enemy (or) the aggressor" on its soil, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman added. Iran did not recognise the Taliban during their 1996 to 2001 stint in power. Iran shares a 900 kilometre border with Afghanistan. Nearly 3.5 million Afghans have already reached Iran.