DUBAI/KABUL: The agreement between the United States and Taliban insurgents has no legal standing, Iran said on Sunday, dismissing the deal as a pretext to legitimise the presence of US troops in Afghanistan.
The United States signed the deal on Saturday in a move trumpeted as a stepping stone towards a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan and an end to 18 years of conflict in the war-torn nation, though some observers described it as a foreign policy gamble that could give the Taliban international legitimacy.
“The United States has no legal standing to sign a peace agreement or to determine the future of Afghanistan,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said a statement reported by state media.
Iran views the US move as an attempt to “legitimise its troops’ presence in Afghanistan”, the statement said.
While saying it welcomes any initiative that helps to secure stability and peace in Afghanistan, Iran said that will be possible only through domestic talks and consideration of the interests of Afghanistan’s neighbours.
Repeating its demand for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, Tehran said it will take all necessary steps to ensure the departure of the US forces. The statement did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s weakened government too on Sunday protested against a key component of a deal, setting the scene for fractious talks when Kabul and the insurgents meet to strike a separate agreement.
President Ashraf Ghani, who faces a political crisis following claims of fraud in his recent re-election, said he would not commit to a clause in the US-Taliban deal that calls for a massive prisoner exchange, something the militants have been demanding for years.
The swap is one part of the accord, fleshed out over more than a year of talks between the US and the Taliban, that was signed in Doha and lays out a 14-month withdrawal timetable for all foreign forces — provided the militants fulfil various pledges and open talks with Kabul.
Ghani committed to continue honouring a partial truce that has seen violence plummet in Afghanistan, but he pushed back against the requirement for the Taliban to release up to 1,000 prisoners and for the Afghan government to release around 5,000 insurgent captives by March 10, when talks are supposed to start.
The agreement says the “United States commits to completing this goal” of releasing the Taliban prisoners, but it is unclear how that would happen if Kabul is not on board.
“There is no commitment to releasing 5,000 prisoners,” Ghani told a rare press conference, noting that any release is “not in the authority of the US, it is in the authority of the Afghan government”.
“It could be included in the agenda of the intra-Afghan talks, but cannot be a prerequisite for talks,” he said.
While supporters of Saturday’s accord say it marks a critical first step towards peace, many Afghans fear it amounts to little more than a dressed-up US surrender that will ultimately see the Taliban return to power. — Reuters/AFP
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