Tehran Meeting to Discuss "Collective Engagement with Taliban", Says Iranian Official

Pankin said that they will only interact at a roundtable where the Taliban's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs will also be present.

Abdul Manan Omari, the Taliban's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, has traveled to Russia heading a delegation to attend the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

In response to the question of whether there will be a bilateral meeting between Russia and the Taliban, Alexander Pankin said, "No, we will interact at a roundtable with the Minister of Labor heading the delegation."

During his visit to St. Petersburg, Abdul Manan Omari said that the group is ready to discuss expanding security relations with Russia.

He added that the Taliban is waiting for its name to be removed from Russia's list of terrorist organisations.

Russia had previously announced that it is considering removing the Taliban from its list of terrorist organisations.

In an interview with TASS news agency, Pankin suggested that the Taliban movement should simply be called Afghanistan. According to him, it is a reality that the Taliban control Afghanistan.

Biden has stated this in a letter to the US Congress on Friday.

Following the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, the activities and expansion of terrorist groups in this country have raised concerns among regional and global countries.

However, US officials have repeatedly emphasised that the country is capable of addressing potential threats emanating from Afghanistan without being present in the country.

In this letter, the US president annually reports to Congress on the "Authorisation for the Use of Military Force," the situation in war-torn countries, the United States' position, and its forces' presence in these countries.

Biden has stated that the United States will continue its counterterrorism efforts worldwide.

The letter addresses operations and the deployment of US forces in various countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and some other countries.

The President of the United States has emphasised that the US will continue to combat terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda in various regions worldwide.

Biden also said that he ordered attacks on IRGC facilities in Iraq in December of last year and January and February of this year.

Representatives from Iran, Russia, China, and Pakistan are attending this meeting.

The Taliban said that they were invited to this meeting, but did not participate.

The Islamic Republic of Iran said that this is the second meeting of the "Regional Contact Group on Afghanistan”.

ISNA reported that at the end of this meeting, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's special representative for Afghanistan, will explain its results in a press conference.

Zakir Jalali, an official from the Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on his X social media platform on Saturday that the group was invited to a meeting in Tehran regarding Afghanistan, but will not participate.

He said that the Taliban expects meetings about Afghanistan to be held "through usual and established mechanisms”.

Jalali noted that representatives from Russia, Iran, and China have referred to this meeting by different names.

He explained, Iran calls this meeting the "Regional Contact Group," Russia refers to it as the "Moscow Format Contact Group Meeting," and China, which had opposed the "International Contact Group" for Afghanistan in the UN Security Council, considers the Tehran meeting as an opportunity for consultation.

He mentioned that the Taliban expects meetings about Afghanistan to be held "through usual and established mechanisms”.

This meeting is scheduled to take place today in Tehran, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Jalali noted that representatives from Russia, Iran, and China have referred to this meeting by different names.

He explained, Iran calls this meeting the "Regional Contact Group," Russia refers to it as the "Moscow Format Contact Group Meeting," and China, which had opposed the "International Contact Group" for Afghanistan in the UN Security Council, considers the Tehran meeting as an opportunity for consultation.

His reference is to the statement by Zamir Kabulov, Russia's representative for Afghanistan, who called this meeting the "Moscow Format Contact Group”.

Rasoul Mousavi, General Director of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's West Asia Department, referred to the meeting as the "Regional Contact Group" in a post on X social media platform.

Pakistan and China, whose representatives will be attending, have welcomed the meeting.

Although none of these countries had previously mentioned inviting the Taliban, Jalali claims the group was invited.

On Saturday, Jalali posted on X that the Taliban "expects that meetings concerning Afghanistan should use usual and established mechanisms instead of forming new ones”.

He also mentioned, without providing details, that the Taliban has had consultations with "relevant parties" regarding the third Doha meeting on Afghanistan.

The third Doha meeting, with the participation of representatives from various countries, will be held on June 30 and July 1.

Omari stated that the Taliban is waiting for its name to be removed from Russia's list of terrorist organisations.

On Friday, he told Russia's TASS news agency that removing the group's name from Russia's blacklist of terrorist organisations would be a step forward.

Previously, the Russian Foreign Minister had announced that Moscow is considering removing the Taliban from this list. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also stated that establishing relations with the Taliban is necessary.

Omari, who traveled to Russia to attend the 27th St. Petersburg Economic Forum, told TASS news agency that relations with Moscow are based on mutual interests.