Iranian FM calls US withdrawal from Afghanistan ‘embarrassing’

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has dismissed US claims that its withdrawal from Afghanistan had all been planned, saying given a choice, Washington would not have opted for the “embarrassing” pullout.

In an interview with Iran’s Press TV, Amir-Abdollahian said: “You saw how the United States withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years in such a manner. If the US could withdraw with any dignity and avoided the embarrassing pullout, it would have certainly not chosen this option.”

He said even though the US claimed in September that all developments in Afghanistan, from the US withdrawal to the return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to power, had been pre-planned, they requested Iran’s cooperation in the end to get through that stage.

“It was the Afghan people’s resistance that forced the US out of the country after 20 years. The same occurred in the previous decades, when the Soviet Union was forced to withdraw from Afghanistan. I call Afghanistan our honorable neighbors, who truly stood against domination in the mountains and in the terrains,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

He also said he informed the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Tehran last month that Iran would formally recognize the government after the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.