In a post on his Twitter account on Monday, Shamkhani touched on the recent developments in neighboring Afghanistan, saying, “Like the past 40 years, we support the people of Afghanistan and their will and resolve.”
Pointing to a “challenging meeting” that he had held with the president of Afghanistan during a visit to Kabul three years ago, the top Iranian security official said the recent heartrending remarks from the Afghan defense minister was a reflection of the impacts of 20 years of American occupation of Afghanistan and the depth of Washington’s influence over the Kabul government.
The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul while many nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens amid chaos at the airport as frantic Afghans searched for a way out.
President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Taliban entered the capital virtually unopposed, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.
It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as government forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others, melted away.