Iran Joins High-Level Afghan Talks

Iran took part in a high-level meeting on Afghanistan on Monday after the U.S. said it has no problem with his participation.
The international contact group met in Rome amid a new push on the nine-year war in Afghanistan, including bringing the Taliban into peace talks to end. It brings together the Afghan government, NATO, EU, UN and other key players - including Iran this time - to assess progress in Afghanistan.
Representatives attending the talks said Iran was invited as part of efforts to have a broad approach and regional players in the discussions on the future of Afghanistan.
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Washington was asked about possible Iranian involvement and responded she had no problem with that. He and other representatives stressed the talks are limited to Afghanistan and not discuss the controversial issue of Tehran's nuclear file.
"This is a meeting on Afghanistan and is limited to Afghanistan," Holbrooke told reporters. "What we are discussing is not affected by, nor will it affect the bilateral issues are discussed elsewhere in relation to Iran." Referring to Iran's long border with Afghanistan and the problem of drugs and immigrants from Afghanistan, Holbrooke said that Tehran "has a role to play in the peaceful resolution of the situation" and that "the United States today there is no problem with their presence. "
Iran sent its special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Zadeh Ghana. The contact group also invited representatives of 10 countries from the Organisation of Islamic Conference.
Ghana Zadeh described the meeting as "fruitful" and said that Iran believes in regional "solution to Afghanistan, one supported by the international community.
The biggest problems in Afghanistan for Iran "insecurity, drug trafficking and the presence of foreign troops," he said.
The agenda of the discussion about increasing the takeover of responsibility for the security of the Afghan forces, and the process of reconciliation - or talks aimed at involving insurgents into the fold, including the Taliban.
Commander Gen. David Petraeus, who was attending the talks in Rome, said last week that coalition forces have allowed Taliban representatives to travel to Kabul for peace talks with the Afghan government, while a Taliban spokesman dismissed as a propaganda talk. In Kabul, the Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he has high expectations of a new Council to negotiate peace agreement with Taliban leaders he met, according to a statement released Saturday by his office.
Holbrooke said Monday that "there is room in Afghanistan for anyone who wishes to be reconciled." He stressed conditions - or "red lines" - captured by coalition forces and the Afghan government that the rebels lay down arms, to abandon al-Qaeda, to enter the political process and respect for the Constitution, including the minority rights.
"That's not to admit defeat," said Holbrooke. "We're not going to this war by military means alone win."
"The war will not end on a battleship in Tokyo Bay, and in Dayton, Ohio. It will end through a different kind of process," Holbrooke added, quoting from Petraeus gave a briefing earlier Monday the group.
The talks are also a preparatory meeting Monday before a NATO summit in Lisbon next month to devise a plan for the transfer of control to the Afghans. However, Holbrooke said there was no "specific announcements by some provinces" that the responsibility of the security back.
"We're not going to lay out the specific process," he said. "We will talk about the transition process" in general.
Staff training remains crucial, Holbrooke said, adding that even countries that are part of the group but not of the international force ISAF could train staff.