Iran and Hamas congratulate Taliban for victory in Afghanistan

In response to the Taliban re-conquest of Afghanistan, Palestinian Hamas and Iran’s president congratulate Taliban for “defeating” the US military and Afghanistan’s government.

“America’s military defeat and its withdrawal must become an opportunity to restore life, security and durable peace in Afghanistan,” Iran’s state TV quoted Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s newly appointed president as saying.

“We congratulate the Muslim Afghan people for the defeat of the American occupation on all Afghan lands, and we congratulate the Taliban movement and its brave leadership on this victory, which culminated its long struggle over the past 20 years,” Hamas said in a statement.

Shi’ite Muslim Iran has been a foe of the extremist Sunni Muslim Taliban for decades, but for the past few years, it has been openly meeting Taliban leaders. In July, Tehran hosted a meeting of then-Afghan government representatives and a high-level Taliban political committee.

Recently, Hamas released photos of a meeting between its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and a Taliban delegation. The meeting reportedly took place in the Taliban office in Doha, Qatar, where Haniyeh has been based for the past two years.

Iran says it promises safe haven for Afghans fleeing the Taliban, this is despite evidence showing Afghan refugees being returned at borders and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) recruiting Afghan immigrant children, teenagers, and adults living in Iran as refugees to fight for Iran’s proxy group Liwa Fatemiyoun in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

Taliban insurgents took control of the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday following a rout of the U.S.-backed Afghan army as foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

Three days before the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, Iran was the first country to legitimize the terror group by referring to them as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Source: Anadolu Agency | Reuters
Also read: The relationship between Iran and Afghanistan

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