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Ghani says Pakistan not in favor of an Islamic Emirate
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday that Pakistan's Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa told him this week that the revival of an Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan was not in Pakistan’s interest.
“Pakistan's Army Chief of Staff has made it clear that reviving the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan is not in Pakistan's national interest,” Ghani said.
After Eid prayers at the Presidential Palace on Thursday, Ghani addressed the nation and called on the Taliban to seize the current peace process opportunity and end the war.
He said the withdrawal of foreign troops was presenting the biggest chance for peace and he called on the Taliban not to miss this historic opportunity.
According to him, the war has cost the country $1 billion so far.
Calling on the Taliban, he said: "What is your message? Why are you destroying the districts? Show me a district that the Taliban is in full control of and has built something.”
Ghani also said in response to the Eid message from Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada that: "Mr. Hibatullah, before sending a message [for people to surrender], look at the history of this nation [which never surrenders]."
Ghani also told the Taliban to make a choice as violence is not the solution.
“The Taliban must make a choice, because our choice is that the only solution to the country's problem is political compromise and war cannot solve the problem,” Ghani said.
Ghani further added that: “The beauty of a republican system is that every president is outgoing. Our condition is elections; as soon as you want, my colleagues and I are ready not to stand in elections and to listen to the will of the nation.”
He also assured the nation that cooperation by the international community will be better and more regulated once troops have withdrawn.
“Be sure that international cooperation will be better and more efficiently regulated. Regional consensus is accelerating to consolidate Afghanistan's key role in the Heart of Asia,” Ghani added.
On Afghanistan’s foreign policy, Ghani said, in future, all decisions on “our security and regional relations will be made based on the national interests.
“I have always said that we have neither permanent enemies nor permanent friends, because only our national interests are permanent,” Ghani said.
Ghani also said that after every darkness there will be a bright future.
“Our state of mind is a state of national grief. The blood of our martyrs, especially Sayed Al-Shuhada School, Logar, Kunar, Zabul, Arghandab and all the families of the victims of Afghanistan are in our thoughts, but God's will is that light shines after every darkness,” he said.
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Weakened Iran could pursue nuclear weapon, White House’s Sullivan says
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the risk, Reuters reported.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel's assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief, read the report.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with U.S. ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran's oil industry.
Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."
"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.
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Saudi Arabia reopens embassy in Afghanistan
In November 2021, Saudi Arabia said it was resuming consular services in Afghanistan. It also provides humanitarian aid in the country through its KSRelief organisation.
Saudi Arabia has resumed its diplomatic operations in Kabul, reopening its embassy on Sunday.
"Based on the desire of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide all services to the brotherly Afghan people, it has been decided to resume the activities of the mission of the Kingdom in Kabul starting on December 22," the embassy posted on social media site X.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi recently met with Saudi representatives, expressing a desire to expand bilateral relations. Saudi officials reaffirmed their commitment to providing humanitarian aid and strengthening collaboration in various fields.
In November 2021, Saudi Arabia said it was resuming consular services in Afghanistan. It also provides humanitarian aid in the country through its KSRelief organisation.
Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries, the others being Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, that recognised the first IEA government which came to power in 1996 and was overthrown by the United States invasion of 2001.
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Human traffickers should be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison: IEA leader
The Leader of the Islamic Emirate has issued a decree instructing the Ministry of Interior Affairs to prevent human trafficking and to arrest and refer culprits to military courts.
The decree containing six articles says that that military courts should sentence human traffickers to one year in prison for the first time, two years if repeated for the second time and three years if repeated for the third time.
The ministries of Hajj, information, telecommunications, borders, propagation of virtue, as well as religious scholars are asked to inform the public about the dangers and adverse consequences of travelling through smuggling routes.
The decree comes as the rate of migration has increased following the political change in Afghanistan in 2021.
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