Iran says US has no legal right to sign peace deal with Taliban and determine future of Afghanistan

Iran has said that, despite cutting a deal with the Taliban, the US has absolutely no right to decide Afghanistan's future, and that intra-Afghan peace talks should be supervised by the UN, not Washington.

Tehran views Washington's actions as "an attempt to legitimize the presence of troops in Afghanistan," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The United States lacks the legal standing to sign a peace deal or determine the future of Afghanistan. We believe that the United Nations has the appropriate authority to facilitate intra-Afghan negotiations, as well as to monitor them, and ensure that the agreement is implemented.

The ministry said that the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan is illegal and remains "one of the main causes of the war" ravaging the country. Iran has stressed that a lasting peace settlement can be achieved only through dialogue between all Afghan political groups, including the Taliban.

The US-Taliban deal signed on Saturday set up the framework for future talks between the Taliban and the US-backed government in Kabul. Washington promised to scale down and then completely withdraw all coalition troops in 14 months, provided the negotiations go as planned and the militants fulfill their commitments.

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