Shamkhani made the remarks during a speech at the fifth session of a regional security forum titled the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan in the Russian capital, Moscow.

He warned against attempts by the US to fuel insecurity in Afghanistan, stating the meddling of extra-regional parties in Afghanistan will spread insecurity to the entire region.

The security chief underscored that creating security, peace, stability and progress in Afghanistan is Iran’s main priority.

The top official added collective efforts by neighbors alone cannot bring lasting peace and stability to Afghanistan, and that the solution to the vicious cycle of insecurity and instability is concrete actions on the part of the governing body in Afghanistan and other internal actors.

Shamkhani warned that further delay in pursuing political mechanisms for the participation of all ethnic groups and parties in governance in Afghanistan will not only bring no advantage, but will add to the country’s existing woes.

He slammed America’s continuous attempts to turn Afghanistan into a platform for promoting insecurity and terrorism, saying this will have consequences for the broader region.

Referring to the US, the top security official stressed, “Those who played the biggest role in the destruction of Afghanistan are now most responsible for providing the costs of rebuilding Afghanistan’s economic infrastructure, and we should not allow them to shirk this responsibility.”

He also urged the US to release the frozen assets of the Afghan nation.

Several countries, including Iran, Russia and China, have repeatedly stressed that the United States seeks to shift responsibility for the crisis situation in Afghanistan, and making statements about the need for other countries to reconstruct the nation. They announced that Washington has no right to shift the burden of responsibility for the situation in the war-torn country onto other states.

They say NATO members including the US should bear primary responsibility for the socio-economic recovery of Afghanistan because they are the ones who created the war-ravaged country’s current predicament.

The Taliban, who had previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, took power again in August 2022 as the US was in the middle of a chaotic troop withdrawal. The group announced the formation of a caretaker government weeks later. Following the Taliban’s takeover, the US and its allies rushed to cut off Afghanistan’s access to international aid and froze nearly $10 billion in assets belonging to the country’s central bank.

Despite the Taliban’s assertion that they have brought security to the nation, Afghanistan has seen regular attacks by armed groups, many of them claimed by a Daesh affiliate known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), in recent months.

Back in late April, Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi warned that the war in Ukraine should not make the international community forget the crisis in Afghanistan.

“The US and NATO presence in Afghanistan meant nothing more than destruction and killing, and it did not provide security for Afghanistan or the region,” Rayeesi stated.

The president added that the war in Ukraine must not divert international attention from the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan, the problems facing its people and the large number of refugees leaving the country.

He also warned about a surge in threats against Afghanistan and other regional nations.

Tehran also blamed the terrorist groups and foreign countries which interfered in Afghanistan in recent years for the recent terrorist attacks in the war-torn country.