Speaking at his weekly press briefing on Monday, Khatibzadeh said, “Iran is deeply concerned about the developments in Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always considered the security of Afghanistan as its own security and has used all its facilities and capacities to contribute to the peace, stability, and tranquility of Afghanistan at bilateral, regional, and international levels.”

He added, “In this context, we are ready and willing to pursue the Tehran Peace Initiative to form an inclusive government in a genuine intra-Afghan dialogue, including all the groups that exist in Afghanistan today.”

The spokesman also called on Afghanistan’s neighbors to hold regular and structured dialogue in order to coordinate their efforts, manage the humanitarian issue of war-displaced people, prevent the geography of Afghanistan from being exploited by extremist groups, and help end the war, bloodshed, and fratricide.

Khatibzadeh said Iran is ready to facilitate and play host to such a dialogue.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has hosted millions of its own Afghan brothers and sisters for the past four decades and has never had anything but a kinship view of the Afghan people, and this humane view has always existed and will continue, God willing,” he pointed out.

As the conflict in Afghanistan intensified over the past few weeks, Iranian officials have increased their peace efforts regarding Afghanistan. Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, the Iranian foreign minister’s special envoy for Afghanistan affairs, recently had a phone conversation with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

In the phone call, the two sides conferred on the latest developments in Afghanistan.

The two sides also discussed the significance of ongoing Afghan peace processes, especially the continuation of intra-Afghan talks in Tehran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also held talks with UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Jean Arnault, who has traveled to Tehran heading a delegation to exchange views with Iranian Foreign Ministry officials, according to a ministry statement.

In the Sunday meeting, Zarif touched upon the dire situation in Afghanistan and the growing complexity of the circumstances in the country, dismissing foreign powers’ inappropriate policies as one of the root causes of the current situation in Afghanistan.

He expressed Iran’s readiness to help with and facilitate negotiations among Afghan sides in order to advance the peace process in Afghanistan.

Zarif said intra-Afghan talks are the only solution to the problems facing the country.

“The international community should adopt a straightforward stance to support a political settlement of the crisis in Afghanistan and condemn violence and its consequences,” said the Iranian foreign minister.

The UN envoy, in turn, stressed the importance of the role of Iran and other regional countries in helping move forward with the peace trend in Afghanistan.

He said no country or a limited number of countries alone will be able to help calm the current situation in Afghanistan, adding only collective cooperation can defuse the situation in the country.

Arnault emphasized intra-Afghan talks as the only way to tackle the current situation in the country, and described his negotiations in Tehran as fruitful and significant.

Arnault also met with Taherian and exchanged views about the ongoing issues in Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, the Iranian Foreign Ministry urged the Afghans to sue for peace and expressed readiness to facilitate dialogue between the warring sides in a statement issued to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attack against Iranian diplomats and a reporter in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif.

August 8 marks one of the most bitter days for the diplomatic arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

23 years ago, on such a day, Iranian diplomats and an Iranian reporter were martyred at the country’s consulate general in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, in an act of cowardice and in violation of commitments made to Tehran as well as international regulations and treaties and the human and Islamic common sense.

International condolence and empathy with the people and government of Iran, following the terrorist incident, and especially the message of condolence from the oppressed people of Afghanistan, who were themselves victims to blind terror, was a fresh dazzling show of deep ties between the peoples of the two countries of Iran and Afghanistan, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

It said these are the ties, which in the midst of unjust wars and suffering of the oppressed people of Afghanistan, led to the reciprocal support of the people of Iran for their subjugated Afghan brothers and sisters.

Deep and true ties between the Iranian and Afghan nations leave the two sides with no better choice other than to take up constructive approaches with an eye on ensuring the interests of both countries, the statement said.

The people and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, just as in the past, are standing alongside their brothers and sisters in Afghanistan and support any solution that helps end more than four decades of baleful and devastating war and protects the achievements of the people of Afghanistan, which are the fruit of the blood of thousands of martyrs, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in the statement.

It added that the Islamic Republic of Iran honors the memory of the martyrs of this incident and, once more, strongly condemns the act of terrorism.

Tehran also pledges to pursue the issue as an obvious demand of the Iranian government and nation until the hidden aspects of the incident come to light, the ministry stated.

In the end, Iran invites all parties to the war in Afghanistan to end their conflict and fratricide and look for a settlement through negotiations and expresses its readiness to continue to facilitate and host these talks, the Foreign Ministry concluded.

“The need to prevent influx of Afghan refugees to borders”

Arnoult also met with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, an aide to the speaker of the Iranian parliament who is rumored to become the next foreign minister of Iran. During his meeting with the UN envoy, Amir-Abdollahian stressed the importance of the security of the people inside Afghanistan and the prevention of the influx of refugees to the borders and stressed the need for unity among all parties.

Explaining the views of Iran on the developments in Afghanistan and the region, he said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the intra-Afghan talks with the presence of all parties.”

Amir-Abdollahian also stressed the role of the United Nations in establishing peace and security in Afghanistan and added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran supports the United Nations initiatives in resolving the Afghan crisis.”

At the same time, he criticized the UN for not taking active action in response to recent developments in Afghanistan.

“The irresponsible actions of the Americans and the behavioral effects of the occupiers have multiplied the problems of the suffering people of Afghanistan,” Amir-Abdollahian noted. “We should not see the Americans continue to act irresponsibly and remain calm at the United Nations.”

In the meeting, Arnault considered the role of neighbors, especially Iran, in resolving the Afghan conflict significant and said, “There should be a stronger international consensus on the issue of Afghanistan, and this issue requires the support of neighboring countries.”

At the end of the meeting, the UN envoy for Afghanistan stressed the need to support a political solution to the Afghan crisis and praised the constructive role of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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The first indication of this shift emerged on Friday when mainstream media outlets broke the news that the Taliban has captured the first provincial capital in southwestern Afghanistan. On that day, Zaranj, the capital of the southern province of Nimruz, fell to the Taliban without any fighting.

Rouh Gul Khairzad, deputy governor of Nimruz, confirmed the news, saying that the Taliban took Zaranj from government forces without fighting, something that delivered a strong blow to the morale of the Afghan government troops and unleashed a series of military campaigns by the Taliban that led to the conquest of many other provincial capitals across the war-torn country.

By Monday the total number of the provincial capitals that have fallen to the Taliban increased to five, with many other capitals under threat. The Taliban movement seized control of five of the capitals of the thirty-four Afghan provinces, after seizing three of them the previous day, including the city of Kunduz, in a major attack that the Afghan army seemed unable to thwart.

In parallel with its advances in the south, the Taliban also made headway in the north of the country. In Balkh and Takhar, two provinces situated in the north and northeast of Afghanistan, heavy clashes between the Taliban and government forces are underway.

The Afghan Tolo News television network reported on Monday that the clashes are underway in the close vicinity of another important capital city. City sources and the network reported that heavy clashes have been going on in the Dehdadi district of Balkh since Sunday night. The clashes are close to Balkh capital Mazar-e-Sharif city and Pul-e-Imam Bukhari area. There, too, the situation seems fragile. The defense lines will break if reinforcements are not sent to the province, sources from Balkh told the network.

Central parts of the city of Sar-e-Pul and many areas in Kunduz city have also fallen to the Taliban after heavy clashes between the two sides. Taliban attacks on these two northern cities intensified over the last 24 hours after the Taliban took Sheberghan, the provincial capital in Jawzjan, Tolo News reported.

“The only remaining area is held by a regiment in the center of Sar-e-Pul province and (another) in Balkhab district,” said Behzad Haidarizada, a Sar-e-Pul resident.

“The central and local governments have paid no attention. The security forces did not even have food while they were under siege,” said Yar Mohammad Maihanparast, the head of the Sar-e-Pul residents’ council in Kabul.

The Afghan government was strongly criticized by lawmakers hailing from Kunduz and Jawzjan. They accused the government of not paying sufficient attention to the situation in the north while the Taliban is intensifying its military campaign. “The Taliban was focused on Kunduz as an important location but the government saw it as a small village,” said Rabbani Rabbani, a member of Kunduz’s provincial council.

Recent advancements of the Taliban were indicative of its new strategy. The group intensified its crusade in May but largely remained focused on rural areas and small cities, delaying the battle for provincial capitals until the proper time. Now, it seems that the Taliban thinks the time has come for it to gradually take over the major cities. They are currently going after provincial capitals one after another with Kabul is more likely to be the last and biggest battle.

The overall mayhem in neighboring Afghanistan aroused much concern in Iran, which has expressed its readiness to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict. “Iran is deeply concerned about the developments in Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always considered the security of Afghanistan as its own security and has used all its facilities and capacities to contribute to the peace, stability, and tranquility of Afghanistan at bilateral, regional, and international levels,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said on Monday.

“In this context, we are ready and willing to pursue the Tehran Peace Initiative to form an inclusive government in a genuine intra-Afghan dialogue, including all the groups that exist in Afghanistan today,” he continued.

The spokesman also urged Afghanistan’s neighbors to engage in regular dialogue about the situation in the war-torn country.

Iran is ready to facilitate and play host to such a dialogue, Khatibzadeh added.

Iran has had contacts with almost all Afghan stakeholders and played host to at least one round of intra-Afghan peace talks. It also held talks with the Taliban in an effort to hear their views on the future of Afghanistan. Iran has always underlined the need to form an all-inclusive government in Afghanistan, one that would include representatives from the Taliban and the Kabul-based Afghan government.

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This pragmatic policy was necessitated by the fact that the U.S. left Afghanistan without taking care about what might take place once its troops are moved out of the country. After two decades of heavy military presence in Afghanistan, the U.S. clumsily left the country even though its intelligence community presciently predicted that Afghanistan is susceptible to falling in the hands of the Taliban in few months after the withdrawal of foreign troops.

The U.S. policy toward Afghanistan was best indicated by its unusual withdrawal from the Bagram base, the sprawling military facility housing foreign troops over the past two decades. The U.S. had a whole host of military equipment and troops stationed there for years and almost all U.S. presidents since the invasion of Afghanistan had paid a visit to this base.

Last week on Friday, the U.S. announced that it vacated its largest airfield of Bagram in Afghanistan. Afghan officials have lamented the way the U.S. left. They said that the U.S. left Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, according to press reports.

“We [heard] some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by 7:00 in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” General Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander, told The Associated Press.

“They (Americans) are completely out now and everything is under our control, including watchtowers, air traffic and the hospital,” a senior Afghan government official told the Reuters news agency.

Afghan soldiers are deeply critical of how the U.S. left Bagram. “In one night, they lost all the goodwill of 20 years by leaving the way they did, in the night, without telling the Afghan soldiers who were outside patrolling the area,” said Afghan soldier Naematullah, who asked that only his one name be used.

This irresponsible act of the U.S. left the Afghan government’s forces scrambling to protect the airbase against the Taliban, whose forces reportedly mounted an attack on Bagram hours after it was evacuated.

The way Bagram was evacuated also sent a message that the U.S. no longer cares about what might happen to its allies in Kabul, who found themselves on the defensive against the Taliban. As expected, the Taliban intensified its attacks on a number of cities and border crossings. They conquered many cities and at least three border crossings with Tajikistan and Iran, pushing hundreds of Afghan troops to seek refuge in neighboring countries.

Over the past few days, videos circulated on social media that showed Taliban militants taking over the Islam Qala and Abu Nasr Farahi border crossings along Iran-Afghanistan borders, a move that led to Afghan staff fleeing to Iran, whose authorities confirmed that Afghan staff entered Iranian territories due to clashes between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

“Considering the clashes that erupted at the Islam-Qala and Abu Nasr Farahi customs facilities inside the Afghan territory, a number of Afghan staff members entered into the Iranian soil,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement. He pointed out that Iran will take the necessary measures according to the rules and regulations and based on its border agreements with Afghanistan and within the framework of good neighborliness principle.

Iranian media outlets quoted sources in the military as saying that Iran is preparing a flight to Kabul at the request of the Afghan government to return the staff and troops.

Facing turmoil in neighboring Afghanistan, Iran tried to broker peace by getting the warring sides of Afghanistan to sit together at the table and discuss ways to put an end to hostilities.

To this end, Iran hosted a meeting between a Taliban delegation and a group of figures who support the republican system on Wednesday and Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led the talks, urged both sides to show courage in making peace.

“Courage in peace is more important than courage in war, because peace needs sacrifice and forgiveness, needs ignoring one’s maximal demands, and paying attention to the other side’s demands, especially in these talks where there is no other side, and both sides are brothers seeking peace and calm for the Afghan nation,” Zarif told the Afghan participants.

The Iranian foreign minister added, “What I ask you is that use this opportunity and end the war in Afghanistan as soon as possible, and provide the Afghan people with the chance to develop.”

He also voiced Iran’s readiness to facilitate peace talks. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is always ready to facilitate your talks in any way you prefer,” he pointed out.

The recent talks were the second time Iran officially host a delegation from the Taliban, a group with which Iran has avoided talking given its track record of bad relations with Iran when it was in power. The history of Iran-Taliban relations carries a lot of antagonistic baggage, most notably due to the group’s anti-Shia leanings and its killing of Iranian diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998, which brought Iran and the Taliban-led Afghanistan close to an all-out war.

But now the Taliban is part of the reality on the ground and Iran has said that the group cannot be ignored, though it should not be seen as the whole reality either. According to this assessment, Iran has done everything in its power to bring peace to its war-torn neighbor and it has the support of Pakistan in this regard. Now, it’s up to the Afghan people and leaders to decide which path they want to tread.

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Rah-e Yar is the publisher of the book “Mission of God” written by the Tehran-based Afghan author Mohammad-Sarvar Rajai based on some notes Saeidi left after his martyrdom in Behsud, Afghanistan.

The title of the book has been inspired by a phrase from Saeidi’s last will and testament as he called his mission to the war “a mission of God”.

Rajai and a number of literati attended a meeting organized on Sunday by the Iran Public Libraries Foundation to introduce the book.

“If we study the historical accounts of Iranian martyrs in Afghanistan during the Islamic jihad in conjunction with the accounts of Afghan martyrs during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, we will be able to grasp the delightful and heartwarming tales that originate from the wholehearted beliefs shared by the two countries,” Rajai said.

He noted that Saeidi detached himself from worldly attachments, leaving behind his family to join the mujahedin forces and to defend the people of Afghanistan.

Saeidi and his comrades were among the first units of soldiers to receive military training under the supervision of professional military training officers in Iran.

He traveled to Afghanistan following a meeting with the renowned Iranian commander, Mostafa Chamran, in order to support the Afghan people in their fight against the Soviets.

While in Afghanistan, Saeidi’s talents for military affairs led Afghan commanders to appoint him as a training officer for their forces.

The Afghans consider Saeidi as one of their national heroes and his grave in the country is frequently visited by the people every day.

Ehsan Parsi, Abolfazl Karbalai Puryzadi and Fazel Hosseini were among the numerous young Iranian volunteers that joined the Afghans in the war against the Soviets.

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