The second meeting of the Regional Contact Group for Afghanistan, known as the Moscow Format, was held on Saturday in Tehran, the capital of Iran.  

Iranian media reported that the representatives of Iran, Russia, China and Pakistan attended the meeting.

At the meeting, the Director-General of the South Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Seyyed Rasoul Mousavi said that the countries of the region play a constructive role in ensuring the peace, stability, and development of Afghanistan.

Mousavi added that in regional meetings, in addition to recalling the problems, solutions and ways to get out of these issues should also be considered.

Despite the invitation, the Islamic Emirate did not participate in the meeting.

Zakir Jalaly, Director of the Third Political Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, said that the IEA declined the invitation to a regional meeting.

Jalaly said in a post on X that the Afghan government declined the invitation to the meeting. He said that the Afghan government expects that meetings on Afghanistan should be held through the existing mechanisms, not new ones.

Meanwhile, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference in Islamabad that the second meeting of the contact group hosted by Iran is important to ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

Zahra Baloch added that Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Asif Ali Khan Durrani participated in this meeting.

“Pakistan believes that the role of the regional contact group is very important for Afghanistan and provides an opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation. Consultations at the regional contact group level ensure that Afghanistan does not become a center for terrorist activities, and at the same time, the neighboring countries support Afghanistan’s efforts for the welfare and economic improvement of their people,” she said.

Earlier, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that the agenda of the third Doha meeting will also be discussed at the meeting of the contact group in Tehran.

The Moscow Format meeting is being held in Tehran while the representatives of twenty-five countries and some envoys of international organizations and institutions are scheduled to meet in Doha on June 30 and July 1 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

US President Joe Biden has emphasized that American forces “remain postured” outside Afghanistan to address terrorist threats.

Biden said this in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President pro tempore of the Senate.

“United States military personnel remain postured outside Afghanistan to address threats to the United States homeland and United States interests that may arise from inside Afghanistan,” according to the letter released by the White House on Friday.

US completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

Some members of the House of Representatives and the US Senate have criticized Biden’s decision to withdraw the American troops from Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has said that the quadrilateral meeting of regional countries on Afghanistan, hosted by Tehran, is important for security and stability in the region.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference on Friday that Asif Durrani, the country’s special representative for Afghanistan, will participate in the Tehran meeting.

She said that it is important for the regional countries, especially the neighbours of Afghanistan, to “consult and work together for ensuring peace, stability and security in Afghanistan, to ensure that Afghanistan is not a source of terrorism in the region and to support Afghanistan’s efforts for the economic well-being of its people.”

Regarding the attack on Chinese citizens in Bisham, Baloch said that despite handing over the evidence to the Afghan government, Islamabad has not yet received any positive response to cooperate in this regard.

The government of Pakistan has claimed that the attack on Chinese citizens had been planned in Afghanistan, and the perpetrator was an Afghan.

However, the Islamic Emirate has denied this claim.

The meeting of the regional contact group for Afghanistan with the participation of representatives of Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran is held today (Saturday) in Tehran.

Zakir Jalaly, Director of the Third Political Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, said on Saturday that the Islamic Emirate declined an invitation to a regional meeting that is scheduled to take place in Tehran.

He said that the Afghan government expects that meetings on Afghanistan should be held through the existing mechanisms, not new ones.