Iran slams attacks on Panjshir Valley, urges Taliban to honor commitments

Iran has condemned in the strongest terms the Sunday night attacks against the Panjshir Valley, saying the Taliban must live up to their commitments, while expressing concern about the news emerging from the province.

The news coming from Panjshir is worrying. Last night’s attacks are condemned in the strongest terms,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said during his weekly press conference on Monday.

According to Press TV, stressing the need to resolve the issue of Panjshir through dialog, Khatibzadeh said laying a siege to the valley is by no means acceptable in view of international law and humanitarian law.

“No one should let this path end in fratricide,” the Iranian spokesman asserted. “The Taliban must live up to their commitments. Starving the people of Panjshir and cutting off their water, electricity, etc is a source of regret.”

Khatibzadeh also expressed deep regret over the "martyrdom" of Afghan leaders during the Sunday night attacks. "The martyrdom of Afghan leaders is a source of deep regret and sorrow." 

Afghanistan's TOLOnews reported that Fahim Dashti, a Spokesman of the Resistance National Front (NRF) and a prominent Afghan journalist, was killed in fighting in Panjshir Province on Sunday.

The NRF confirmed the news, saying General Abdul Wudod Zara had also been killed in the latest fighting. 

Dashti was a senior member of the Jamiat-e-Islami Party and advised resistance Leader Ahmad Massoud on the defense of the valley and negotiations with the Taliban.

“I strongly warn that all red lines and obligations under international law must be observed,” Khatibzadeh said, adding that Iran is closely monitoring the developments in the neighboring country.

On Sunday, the Taliban claimed they have advanced deep into Panjshir Province – Afghanistan’s last remaining holdout for resistance forces who oppose the rule of the hardline group.

The militant group also claimed on Monday that it had taken complete control of Panjshir, three weeks after taking over the country’s capital, Kabul.

“With this victory, our country is completely taken out of the quagmire of war,” the group’s Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declared.

However, the National Resistance Front disputed the Taliban’s claim, saying it was present in “strategic positions” across the valley to continue “the struggle against the Taliban and their partners.”

'Foreign interference' 

Khatibzadeh also said Iran is opposed to any foreign interference in Afghanistan, and is monitoring possible acts of interventionism.

He advised those “friends making a strategic mistake” to realize that the Afghan people are the same people who fought to drive out US-led foreign forces from their country.

“Afghanistan’s history has shown that any direct and indirect foreign intervention has resulted in nothing but defeat for the invading forces” by the independent and zealous Afghan people, he said.

He also called on relevant international institutions and regional countries to help Afghanistan reach peace and stability.

The government of Afghanistan rapidly collapsed on August 15 with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country in the face of lightning advances of the Taliban.

The collapse of Kabul followed peace talks between the US and the Taliban and withdrawal of American forces including from the main Bagram Airbase in the dead of night without informing Afghan authorities, 20 years after they invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, in a war that killed, according to one estimate, between 897,000 and 929,000 people.

ME