A Call for U.S. Talks on a New Afghanistan

An Iranian parliamentary committee has called for direct talks with the country’s arch foe, the United States, to seek cooperation on setting up a new Afghan government, a member of parliament said.

Golamheidar Ebrahimbai-Salami said the special committee on the Afghan crisis had concluded that “it is in our national interests to engage in talks with the main parties in the conflict, especially America.”

“We have to make sure that the future government in Afghanistan will not adversely affect our interests,” he said, as quoted by Iran’s student news agency ISNA.

Iran does not have ties with the United States, and the two countries have been communicating indirectly.

Ebrahimbai-Salami said the committee’s findings had been forwarded to President Mohammad Khatami and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on major policy issues, including U.S. ties.