Russia wants new country member in Pakistan US China quad on Afghanistan war, it's not INDIA
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*MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that his country has an interest in including Iran in the Russia-China-U.S. format for Afghan peace talks.*
“We have a dialogue with [the United States] on Afghanistan. There is a Russia-China-U.S. format that Pakistan has joined. There is interest in connecting Iran to this format. [We believe] It can be promising,” Lavrov said.
Chief negotiators for the U.S. and Taliban held nine rounds of direct talks, until they agreed “in principle” to a framework for peace, Ariana News has reported.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled peace negotiations with the Taliban in September this year.
Following the collapse of U.S.-Taliban talks, a Taliban delegation travelled to Iran and Russia to discuss the peace process but additional details of these discussions have not been disclosed.
In late October, representatives of China, Russia, the United States and Pakistan held talks in Moscow where they discussed ways to assist Afghanistan in achieving lasting peace. The Four-Party meeting issued a joint statement, calling for an early resumption of U.S.-Taliban talks.
Moscow and Tehran are allies but Washington and Tehran have a hostile policy toward each other.
“Iran is our neighbor [and] that involves in different issues related to Afghanistan. We have more than two million refugees in Iran. So, Tehran’s involvement in negotiation is needed,” said Sayed Ishaq Gailani, the leader of Hezb-e-Nuhzat Hambastagi Milli, a political party in Afghanistan.
“The Four-Party meeting was effective, because these countries can make a decision for Afghanistan. If United States allows it, Iran can play a role in the Afghan peace process,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former member of the Taliban militant group.
In December 2018, Tehran announced that it had been holding talks with the Taliban with the knowledge of the Afghan government.
