Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the former Special Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran, objected to the presence of representatives of women and civil society in the Doha Process Anti-Narcotics Working Group.
In response to the request of Western countries for the broad participation of Afghan political and civil institutions, Qomi said that the fight against narcotics should not be politicised.
In an interview with ISNA news agency, Qomi stressed that technical and specialised issues should be separated from political issues and that the issue of combating drugs should not be allowed to become a tool for political pressure.
According to the report, he made these remarks in response to some criticisms from Western representatives, especially the United States and the European Union, who stressed on the need for a broader participation of Afghan political and civil institutions in these meetings.
Hassan Kazemi Qomi also quoted the Russian envoy as saying that he strongly opposed the West's attempt to politicise technical issues and warned that if this process continues, Moscow will not participate in future negotiations.
He added that Russia has stressed that it will not allow the United States to use the Anti-Narcotics Task Force for its own political purposes, arguing that it is a technical and specialised working group and should not be politicised.
The first meeting of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, which is part of the Doha Process, was held on Thursday, November 28.
UNAMA announced that this task force will provide the ground for coordinated interaction with the Taliban.
It is not yet known whether any of the women, Afghan civil society and Taliban opponents were present in the working group.
The third Doha meeting was attended by the special representatives of countries for Afghanistan on June 30 and July 1. Taliban representatives were invited to the third Doha meeting, but women, civil society, and political opponents of the Taliban were not present.
Domestic media outlets had previously reported that the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran had dismissed Qomi from the position of Iran's special envoy to Afghanistan. According to reports, Alireza Bikdeli has been appointed as the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran for Afghanistan.
