Senior Iranian diplomat accuses U.S. of fomenting Afghan instability, undermining regional peace

TEHRAN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian diplomat has accused the United States of deliberately perpetuating instability in Afghanistan, aiming to generate crises for neighboring countries after its unsuccessful two-decade occupation.

In an interview with Iran's state news agency IRNA on Wednesday, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's special representative for Afghanistan, alleged that the United States has been sponsoring "terrorist" groups in Afghanistan after it withdrew all its forces from the Central Asian country in 2021.

The United States is also taking steps to isolate Afghanistan from the global community by imposing sanctions on a number of Taliban officials and freezing the nation's assets, Kazemi Qomi added.

The Iranian official highlighted that the United States does not want stability in Afghanistan, as it fears the potential for other countries to fill the void it left once the Central Asian country attains stability.

He also noted, unlike the United States, many of Afghanistan's neighboring counties, such as Iran and Pakistan, hope to restore calm and stability to Afghanistan, which will be in the interest of the region.