Taliban Defeated US In Doha, Claims Iranian Official

Rasoul Mousavi, General Director of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's West Asia Department, described the Taliban's policies as "very intelligent and calculated”.

In a note on X social media platform addressed to the Taliban's opponents, Mousavi wrote, "Whether you agree or not, they defeated the US both on the battlefield and in Doha."

In the note, which seems to be written to the Taliban's opponents, it states, "Your lack of approval for the Taliban's policies does not change the reality that the decision-making centre and policies of the Taliban are intelligent."

Mousavi described the UNAMA head's statement about the Taliban "coming from the mountains" as "a major misunderstanding of the Taliban”.

During a press conference in New York, in response to a question from Maryam Rahmati, a reporter for Afghanistan International, about the Taliban's opposition to the presence of women in the Doha talks, Roza Otunbayeva, head of UNAMA said, "[The Taliban] are not like you and me. The Taliban have come from the mountains and from war, and turning them into people who sit around the negotiation table and accept our principles is not easy."

The Iranian diplomat's defensive statement in favour of the Taliban comes at a time when the Taliban's decisions and policies have faced widespread anger from Afghan citizens. In nearly three years of governance, the Taliban have made a series of decisions that Afghan citizens perceive as violations of fundamental human rights and insults to their human dignity.

The Taliban have issued dozens of decrees depriving women of basic rights such as the right to education, work, sports, free travel, political activity, and participation in gatherings.

The group has also imposed extensive restrictions on Hazaras and Shia Muslims in Afghanistan, with no women, Hazaras, or Shia citizens holding any positions in the group's cabinet.