Matthew Miller, the US State Department Spokesperson, told Afghanistan International that they support the UN Secretary-General's criticism of the Taliban's policies against Afghan women.
He said that Afghanistan is the only country where women do not have the right to work, and its economy suffers significant financial losses due to this.
On Thursday, in response to questions from Aref Yaqubi, Afghanistan International’s reporter in Washington, regarding the recent remarks of the UN Secretary-General, Miller said that the suppression of Afghan women and the imposition of restrictions against them are horrific and intolerable.
He stated that the US condemns the Taliban's systematic discrimination and mistreatment of Afghan women.
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on Tuesday, at a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, said that Taliban issued over 50 edicts to suppress Afghan women and girls.
The spokesperson of the US State Department stated that any steps towards normalising relations with the Taliban are conditional on respect for the rights of all Afghans.
He emphasised that there is no other country in the world where women are deprived of attending school and lack the right to work to support their families.
Miller said that Taliban’s policies significantly damage Afghanistan's economy, which is suffering from poverty and crises.
He added that education is vital for the economic, political, and social development of Afghanistan and the country’s economy has endured substantial losses as a result of women's exclusion from the workforce.
This week, during a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan in Kabul, Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban, said that the Taliban's foreign policy focuses on the economy and urged Uzbekistan to sign bilateral and trilateral trade agreements with the Taliban.
However, the Taliban have predominantly restricted Afghanistan's workforce to their homes and assumed control over their education.
The UN Development Programme estimates that constraining women's workspace could incur an annual cost of approximately USD one billion for Afghanistan.
