Foreign Minister Javad Zarif posited that “the U.S. engaged in an all-out effort to simply get out of Afghanistan—which is good, but it should not be at the expense of the people of Afghanistan and at the expense of the democratic process in Afghanistan”. “We are very pessimistic about the process that the U.S. led, and that is why we did not participate in that process… But we support any and all inter-Afghan dialogue”, Zarif added. “We believe that the future of Afghanistan should be decided by all Afghans without foreign interference and regional countries should play a role in assisting—in facilitating and not dictating”. He further indicated that “we have observed very closely the discussions in Doha. They are, unfortunately, at a stalemate… We will do whatever we can in order to help that process. But the damage that has been done by the U.S., by this process, is very difficult to undo”.