US Rejects Taliban Request for Investment in Afghanistan

The U.S. State Department has rejected the Taliban administration’s request for American investment in Afghanistan, saying Washington has no plan to engage with the administration on developing the country’s critical minerals sector. According to the department, any investment in Afghanistan under Taliban rule could strengthen the repression of Afghan citizens and put money in the hands of the administration.

A State Department spokesperson told Voice of America that the United States does not engage with “terrorists.” The spokesperson added that Washington still considers the Taliban administration a “specially designated global terrorist group” and will not work with it on the development of Afghanistan’s critical minerals.

The U.S. official also said any possible American investment in Afghanistan under Taliban rule could lead to further repression of Afghan citizens by the administration. The official stressed that such a move would channel financial resources to the Taliban administration and, in their words, create conditions for the continuation of the Taliban’s “horrible treatment of the people of Afghanistan.”

The response came after Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban administration, told the Financial Times that he welcomed U.S. investment in Afghanistan’s mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade sectors. He said relations between Kabul and Washington should not be judged through the lens of the past 20 years of war, and should instead be based on future cooperation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban administration’s spokesman, also said on Wednesday, 11 Sunbula, at a news conference that the administration wants good relations with all countries, including diplomatic and economic ties with the United States. He claimed that establishing relations with Washington would benefit both sides.

The U.S. State Department had previously said Washington’s position on the Taliban administration had not changed. The department also told Afghanistan International that normalizing relations with the Taliban administration depends on fundamental changes in the administration’s conduct toward human rights.

Afghanistan has large mineral reserves, including critical minerals, resources that have repeatedly been at the center of political and economic discussions in recent years. However, efforts to exploit these resources under Taliban rule have always been accompanied by concerns over how the revenues would be spent and what the consequences would be for the Afghan people.