WASHINGTON: The United States has rejected the Taliban regime’s call for American investment in Afghanistan, saying Washington has no plans to engage with the group in developing the country’s critical mineral resources.
The comments came after the Taliban regime’s interim foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the group would welcome US investment in Afghanistan in sectors including mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade.
A US State Department spokesman told Voice of America that Washington has no plans to engage with the Taliban on developing Afghanistan’s critical mineral resources, noting that the group remains designated by the United States as a “global terrorist group”.
یک سخنگوی وزارت خارجه ایالات متحده در پاسخ به این پرسش صدای امریکا که آیا حکومت طالبان، پیشنهاد سرمایه گذاری در بخش معادن را به گونه رسمی با مقامات امریکایی مطرح کرده است یا خیر، گفت: "وزارت خارجه ایالات متحده هیچ برنامه ای برای تعامل با طالبان، یک گروه دهشت افگن جهانی به طور…
— VOA Dari (@VOADari) September 2, 2026
No plans to engage with ‘global terrorist group’
The US State Department spokesman called the Taliban a “global terrorist group” and stated that Washington has no plans to engage with this group.
The US official said potential American investment in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan would risk enabling further repression of Afghan citizens.
The State Department official stressed that US investment in Afghanistan would put money into the hands of the Taliban, adding that this could contribute to the group’s horrific treatment of the Afghan people.
Muttaqi told the Financial Times that relations between Afghanistan and the United States should not be viewed through the lens of the past 20 years of war but should instead be shaped around future cooperation. He also mentioned that the Taliban regime’s economic policy is open.
Taliban regime’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid also said at a press conference on Wednesday that the group wanted good relations with all countries, including diplomatic and economic ties with the United States. He said establishing relations with Washington would benefit both sides.
The US State Department said it had previously made clear that Washington’s position towards the Taliban had not changed and that the United States continued to regard the group as a global terrorist organisation.
A State Department spokesman previously told Afghanistan International that normalising relations with the Taliban would depend on fundamental changes in the group’s conduct regarding human rights.
Based on surveys conducted during the Republic era, the value of Afghanistan’s mineral resources is estimated at least at $1 trillion, and lithium, cobalt, and niobium are among the country’s important minerals.
