US Rejects Taliban Offer for Investment in Afghanistan’s Mines

The US State Department has rejected the Taliban administration’s proposal for US investment in Afghanistan’s mining sector, saying it has no plans to engage with the administration on the development of the country’s critical minerals.

The position comes after Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban-appointed acting foreign minister, welcomed US investment in Afghanistan’s mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade sectors. In an interview published on Aug. 30 in the Financial Times, he said relations between the two sides should be judged on the basis of future cooperation, not through the lens of the past 20 years of war.

In response to a question about whether the Taliban administration had formally raised the proposal with US officials, a State Department spokesperson said: “The US State Department has no plans to engage with the Islamic Emirate on the development of critical minerals in Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan has vast mineral reserves, and in recent years the exploitation of these resources has been a major point of interest for foreign powers and the country’s ruling authorities. However, relations between Washington and the Taliban administration have remained limited and tense since the group returned to power.