Khalilzad: the United States has invited Iran to talks about ending the war in Afghanistan

A US official reported on Thursday that the United States has called Iran to discussions about stopping the war in Afghanistan, however, he but alerted that Washington was carefully monitoring Iranian forces.

During a webinar, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, said: We have offered to meet with Iranians on [Afghanistan].

The US diplomat criticized Iran for its attempt to keep the US entangled … without winning or losing, and trying to make the US pay a high price in Afghanistan until there is an agreement between the US and Iran.

He also affirmed that the US had alerted that it would answer to any groups supported by Iran or close to it and worked against US and coalition partners. Khalilzad said without details: We are monitoring them very closely. There have been disturbing actions that have had a negative impact.

Moreover, Khalilzad and when he spoke to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), confessed that there was no viable path to a military victory in Afghanistan. He cited the high-level delegation sent to debates with the US when he responds to the question about the Taliban peace discussions and what evidence there was that the militant group was serious. However, Khalilzad declared that plans to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan, ahead of complete removal, were all conditional.

Otherwise, officials reported on Thursday that Afghan security forces have killed 65 Taliban militants during intense combat in eastern Afghanistan, with the struggling fight between the two sides despite the ongoing peace talks.

Iran has condemned the deal negotiated by Khalilzad between the US and the Taliban, which envisages the US remove next May, and has accused Washington of legitimizing the Taliban. Nonetheless, it has also increased its own contacts with the militants, while US officials accused Tehran of supporting attacks against Western forces.