Regional Contact Group Meeting On Afghanistan Begins In Tehran
ISNA news agency reported that the second meeting of the Regional Contact Group for Afghanistan began in Tehran on Saturday.
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.
