The Solution to the Problem of Afghanistan is not in Obedience to the Taliban but in a National and Regional Agreement!

The Solution to the Problem of Afghanistan is not in Obedience to the Taliban but in a National and Regional Agreement!

We Support the Resilience of the Civil Society and Afghan Freedom Fighters against Aggression!

Our neighbor Afghanistan is in one of its historical stages. The US government continues to pursue a policy of hasty withdrawal, and the Taliban leadership, contrary to its commitments in Doha and Astana, has effectively put the continuation of the civil war ahead of the start of talks with the Kabul government. In the last two weeks, the Taliban have captured nearly 80 districts, mostly in the northern part of the country, and this "jihadist" movement has even tried to seize several cities and the strategic Bagram air base which has fortunately failed so far.

Despite the admirable spirit of resistance in the civil society of Afghanistan, especially in the metropolises of the country, and especially among the girls and women who are rightly suffering from the nightmare of another Taliban in Afghanistan, we see a lot of feebleness in the government forces which raises questions. The military, political, and psychological balance of power has shifted in favor of the Taliban due to some retreats and the mass exodus of military personnel and taking refuge in the neighboring countries. The rampant corruption of the government apparatus, which has deprived it of its ability to manage, is now manifesting in its wretchedness and evasion of responsibility.

The turmoil and ambiguity about the near future is now clearly reflected in Kabul's diplomatic situation. Some embassies have closed, while others have seen staff reductions and preparedness to leave the country in an emergency. The US government, not under the auspices and supervision of the United Nations, but even before the Security Council resolution, invaded Taliban-dominated country of Afghanistan in 2001. The US government now after losing nearly 3,000 military casualties and at a cost of nearly $ 1 trillion and, most importantly, the loss of tens of thousands of Afghan lives over the past 20 years, is pursuing a policy of desertion. If the United States at the time showed its irresponsibility in pursuing Neo Kan's policy of military power, now it is showing its utmost irresponsibility in bringing the Afghan people under the Taliban sword.

Under these circumstances, the beneficiary countries in the developments in Afghanistan are trying to fill the gap by multiplying their political and even logistical movements and securing their share in the alternative power structure of the current government in advance. Pakistan, Russia, Central Asian countries, the Islamic Republic, China, India and even Turkey have sought to shape the re-Talibanization of Afghanistan in their political, military, and economic interests. This, of course, is not surprising, as the country's historical course has turned the issue of Afghanistan into a geopolitical issue in the region. In fact, from the time of the "Great Game of the Century" one hundred and fifty years ago to today and even tomorrow in the form of various forms, achieving political stability in Afghanistan, which is confined to regional powers, is not just an internal matter for the country.

The Islamic Republic, which has so far continued to play a simultaneous and three-pronged relationship with the elected government of Kabul, relations with the Taliban and special support for some non-governmental and anti-Taliban Mujahideen forces, has now taken steps to gain closer ties with the Taliban. The regime's policy towards Afghanistan, which has always been based on anti-Americanism and its defeat in this land and the inevitable withdrawal, and not based on the lasting interests of the people of the two countries, now seeks to exploit the vacuum created by the US withdrawal. Meanwhile, the recent military movements of the regime in the border areas should be emphasized as support for its plans. Among other things, from June 23 to July 3, the 38th Armored Brigade of Torbat-e Jam and the 158th Rapid Reaction Brigade of Shahroud, along with the Fifth Airborne Combat Base of the Army in Mashhad, were stationed in Birjand along with a number of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ground personnel and armored equipment.

Diplomatically, the Islamic Republic recently hosted two negotiating delegations from the Kabul government and the Taliban in Tehran by Mohammad Javad Zarif, which led to the issuance of a joint declaration by the two delegations. A declaration emphasizing the need for further agreement between the parties and the establishment of peace in Afghanistan and appreciating the "positive efforts" of the Islamic Republic in this regard. This is also to Biden's satisfaction. This diplomatic movement is taking place while the day after the signing of this declaration, that is, today, the important border crossing between the two countries, known as Islam Qala, was taken out of the hands of the government’s forces and occupied by the Taliban.

It is a political, security and economic need for our Iran to be particularly sensitive to the developments of its wall-to-wall neighbor with a border length of nearly a thousand kilometers and to consider itself a beneficiary in its fate. Neighbors belonging to a long-standing cultural ambit, enjoy the same language, are located along the Silk Road, there are vital water and transit issues between them, important economic ties connect the two, and most importantly, Iran now hosts at least three million Afghans. Therefore, there is not the slightest doubt in the necessity of Iran's entry into the current developments in Afghanistan, nor is it something that wants to be tied to the Iranian people struggle against the Islamic Republic. Iran's policy towards Afghanistan is a matter of the day for Iranians.

It is a fact that the current political developments in Afghanistan show a worrying and bleak outlook and a variety of dangers from escalation of civil war and even further political instability to bloody ethnic conflicts, rise of religious and tribal reactionary elements, and recapture of civil and political gains from the Afghan society are imminent. in a situation where the twenty-year injection of dollars into this country is being cut off or at least fundamentally reduced, in the absence of minimal industrial and agricultural production and downfall of its mineral resources, the specter of the spread of poverty and destitution is circulating in the country. Preventing this horrific situation, the consequences of which could be, among other things, a new and widespread influx of refugees into Iran, is the central issue at the moment in relation to Afghanistan. Afghanistan, which has been embroiled in more than forty years of war and is suffering from devastating miseries.

The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian) is following the whole situation in Afghanistan with sensitivity and concern and believes that all the progressive forces of our country need to face this great crisis from the position of the interests of the people of the two countries and peace in the region. Any solution that, in the interests of this or that foreign government, favors the reactionary Taliban with a horrible past and compromises by accepting the wishes of the "Islamic Emirate" is against the interests of the Afghan people. There is no doubt that the Taliban, relying on the extreme backwardness of the tribal communities of the country and with the close support of the Pakistani military and the money and religion of the Saudis and Qataris, is a serious fact in the country without which the Afghan peace process is meaningless. But going under its impositions is nothing more than sacrificing Afghanistan's fledgling human and civic values. This exaggeration that the Taliban are very different from that of the Taliban 25 years ago is not true. Hope must be pinned on Afghan civil society and counted on it.

We see peace in Afghanistan as a regional issue, just as we see the continuing multifaceted crisis and war in this country as a threat to the entire region. Security in Afghanistan, if not in the context of the understanding of the countries of the region and if it does not rely on the survival of minimum democracy and the guarantee of political and social freedoms, does not contain peace but more arson. Our wish for the people of Afghanistan is getting out of the current dilemma and at this critical time we reaffirm our support for the civil resistance and political vigilance of the progressive and democratic forces of Afghanistan.

Political-Executive Board of the Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)

July 9, 2021