Iran Warns US Return To Afghanistan Would Endanger Regional Stability

They warned thatsuch moves would threaten regional peace and stability.

Meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the ministers said NATO must accept responsibility for Afghanistan’s current crisis and underscored the need to respect the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

In a joint statement, they rejected redeployment of foreign military bases inside or around Afghanistan and called instead for strengthening regional frameworks such as the Moscow Format, quadrilateral talks and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to help address Afghanistan’s political impasse.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Pakistani Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar and China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, attended the meeting.
The four countries urged lifting unilateral sanctions on the Taliban, releasing Afghanistan’s frozen assets and removing travel bans on Taliban officials.

The meeting came days after US President Donald Trump said Washington was seeking to regain access to the Bagram air base and warned of consequences if the Taliban refused. The Taliban rejected the remarks and reiterated calls for diplomatic dialogue with the US.

Concerns Over Militants and Narcotics

The ministers expressed alarm over the presence of groups including al-Qaida, Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Baloch separatists and Jaish al-Adl. They urged the Taliban to act decisively and without discrimination to prevent Afghan soil being used against its neighbours, and to block militant recruitment, financing and access to weapons.

They also highlighted rising production of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamines and called for stronger regional cooperation against narcotics trafficking.

Call for Inclusive Governance

The four countries reiterated demands for an inclusive political system in Afghanistan that reflects the aspirations of all segments of society.

They said ensuring women’s and girls’ access to education, employment, public participation, justice, essential services and freedom of movement would be critical to building long-term peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.

US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended the talks.

Sharif thanked Trump for acknowledging Pakistan’s role in counterterrorism and called for deeper cooperation on security and intelligence. He praised Trump’s leadership style as bold and decisive and credited him with helping to prevent a major disaster in South Asia by mediating a cease-fire between India and Pakistan during their four-day military clash in May.

The prime minister extended an invitation for Trump to make an official visit to Pakistan and lauded his recent efforts to press for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, including hosting key Muslim leaders in New York earlier this week for talks on restoring peace in the Middle East.

Sharif said he hoped Pakistan-US relations would strengthen under Trump’s leadership and invited American companies to invest in agriculture, information technology, mining, minerals and energy in Pakistan.

The meeting was the first official bilateral engagement between the two leaders, six years after former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Trump at the White House in 2019.

At the White House on Thursday, Trump referred to his administration’s rebuilding of the US military and the equipment left behind in Afghanistan following the 2021 withdrawal. He again criticised the withdrawal, calling it the most shameful moment in US history.

Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly highlighted his intention for the United States to regain control of Bagram, once the country’s largest military base in Afghanistan. In late September, during a joint press conference in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he said Washington was seeking to take back the base, which the Taliban seized after the US exit.

He later confirmed that his administration was holding discussions with the Taliban on a potential return to Bagram and warned of consequences if the facility was not handed back.

Taliban officials have rejected the prospect of a US return, insisting Bagram is part of Afghanistan’s sovereign territory and will not host foreign forces.

The OIC said the group was established to provide an effective mechanism for implementing decisions on Afghanistan and to strengthen cooperation in addressing the country’s humanitarian, political, and economic challenges.

Representatives of member states stressed that Afghanistan continues to face severe humanitarian and economic crises and that overcoming them will be difficult without a coherent regional framework.

In a message to the meeting, the OIC Secretary-General underscored the importance of continued dialogue with Taliban authorities on key issues. He also expressed appreciation to countries providing humanitarian aid, particularly through the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund and the OIC office in Kabul, with special thanks to Saudi Arabia for its contributions via the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.

Speakers noted that the creation of the Contact Group could accelerate coordination of humanitarian and political support from Islamic countries.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, told the gathering that at a time when global priorities are shifting to other conflict zones, OIC member states must not neglect Afghanistan. He said the country is grappling with crippling problems such as terrorism, narcotics trafficking, a dysfunctional banking system, unemployment, poverty, human rights concerns, and a political structure that remains unrecognised more than four years after the Taliban takeover.

Dar urged OIC members to support engagement and dialogue with the Taliban at regional and multilateral levels to encourage the group to uphold international commitments. He added that the Contact Group should press the Taliban to lift unjustified restrictions on women and girls, which he said contradict Islamic principles and the norms of Muslim societies. He stressed that engagement efforts should push the Taliban to reconsider their policies in this regard.

The Pakistani foreign minister also voiced concern over the presence of terrorist groups inside Afghanistan, particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). He said these groups actively cooperate with al-Qaeda and pose a serious threat to regional and international peace and security.

Abolfazl Zohrevand, a member of Iran’s parliament and its National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Iranian outlet IRAF that a US return to Bagram would run counter to the interests of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. He said China had already raised concerns over the issue in talks with Taliban Defence Minister Yaqoob Mujahid.

Zohrevand argued that the US is seeking to offset its 2021 withdrawal defeat, adding that China, Russia, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have the capacity to resist American pressure. He described Bagram as a “dagger” pointed at Russia, China and Iran, and warned regional states would back Taliban opponents if US forces return.

His comments follow repeated calls by US President Donald Trump for Washington to retake Bagram. Trump warned last week that “bad things” would happen if the Taliban did not hand over the base.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Trump’s remarks, saying Bagram is Afghan territory and urging the US to engage diplomatically. China’s Foreign Ministry also stressed respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and cautioned against fuelling regional tensions.