Iranian Foreign Minister has dismissed US claims that its withdrawal from Afghanistan had all been planned beforehand. Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Americans would not have opted for such an "embarrassing" pullout if they had other choices.

�You saw how the United States withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years in such a manner. If the US could have withdrawn with any dignity and avoided the embarrassing pullout, it would certainly not choose this option,� Amir Abdollahian told Press TV in an exclusive interview broadcast on Sunday.

Even though Americans claimed backed in September last year that all developments in Afghanistan, from the US military�s withdrawal from the country to the return of the Taliban to power, had been pre-planned, they requested Iran�s cooperation in the end to get through that stage, he noted.

Amir Abdollahian added he has told the caretaker Taliban foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, during the latter�s visit to Tehran last month that Tehran would formally recognize the group after the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.



By IRAN FRONT PAGE