The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who led the IEA’s delegation at the third Doha meeting, said Afghanistan is no longer isolated and that an atmosphere of trust has been created with countries the IEA has relations with.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Mujahid said that special envoys at the Doha meeting meeting acknowledged progress made in Afghanistan and that discussions focused on supporting and removing restrictions on the private sector and achievements in the field of fighting drugs.

He stressed that in this meeting the IEA delegation was able to convey and show the demands of the caretaker government and the people of Afghanistan to the world.

“Afghanistan has moved away from isolation; Afghanistan is not isolated. It has its relations with countries and an atmosphere of trust has been created,” said Mujahid.

“The fourth issue was that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been able to manage relations with the countries with which it has diplomatic relations, especially in the field of trade and transit, which is important for Afghanistan and for the countries,” he added.

According to Mujahid, the presentation of Afghanistan’s progress had surprised participants and they accepted the achievements of the IEA.

The private sector and the fight against narcotics are two important issues the IEA raised at the Doha meeting. The IEA called for the lifting of all sanctions, the cancellation of restrictions on the private sector and the return of Afghanistan’s frozen foreign reserves.

Mujahid added that IEA does not want Afghanistan to be a field of competition between powerful countries again.

“We won’t allow Afghanistan to become a conflict [zone] between powerful countries, we want Afghanistan to be the center of attraction for aid and the connecting point of countries, not separation,” he stressed.

He stated that the Kabul delegation had 24 bilateral and multilateral meetings with representatives of specific countries on the sidelines of the Doha-3 meeting and emphasized that IEA wants to have relations with all countries.

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A joint meeting was held on Wednesday between journalists and local officials of Nangarhar in order to address problems faced by the media outlets in the province.

In this meeting, a number of journalists said that they want the financial problems of the media to be addressed and officials must let them have access to information on time.

“These kinds of meetings are necessary so that journalists can share their problems with the authorities and that the journalists should be able to fulfill their responsibility towards the government,” said a journalist.

Meanwhile, the deputy governor of Nangarhar, the head of information and culture and the spokespersons of various departments emphasized in the meeting that they are ready to fully cooperate with journalists.

“We share your problems with the relevant departments. We cooperate with you as much as we can,” said Sayed Ahmad Banuri, the deputy governor of Nangarhar.

Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said Tuesday that Thomas West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, pressed the Islamic Emirate delegation at the Doha meeting for the release of two American citizens held in an Afghanistan prison.

“During these meetings, Special Rep West pressed for the immediate and unconditional release of US citizens unjustly detained in Afghanistan, noting that these detentions impede progress in the Taliban’s (IEA) own desire for international recognition. US officials continue to press for their release continuously and at every opportunity,” he said.

Patel further elaborated that both West and Special Envoy Rina Amiri met directly with IEA representatives during the Doha 3 meetings to address the matter.

“So to widen the aperture a little bit, Special Representative Tom West and Special Envoy Amiri met directly with Taliban (IEA) representatives during the Doha 3 meetings,” he added.

Previously, two senior US national security officials told NBC News that two American citizens are currently imprisoned by the IEA.

Claudia Tenney, a US Congress member, stated earlier that one of the detainees Ryan Corbett has been detained in Afghanistan without any charges since August 20, 2022.

Meanwhile, speaking in a press conference on Wednesday in Kabul Zabiullah Mujahid, who led the IEA’s delegation to Doha said that they had a short conversation with the American representatives and discussed the release of Afghan prisoners from American prisons, especially those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.

“In the conversation with the American representative, there was a discussion about the two American prisoners in Afghanistan, and we also discussed about the Afghan prisoners who are imprisoned by the Americans in Guantanamo bay, and just as they want the release of their prisoners and it is important for them, the release of Afghan prisoners is also important for us,” said Mujahid.

Although the Islamic Emirate has good relations with the neighboring countries and the region, its relations with the West, especially the United States, are not very good, and the Islamic Emirate considers the United States to be the biggest obstacle to its global legitimacy, the IEA has said.