Taliban delegation all set for Afghan peace talks with Iranian officials

A high-level delegation of Taliban, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has arrived Iran for talks on the peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the Taliban political delegation had arrived in Tehran on Tuesday morning at the invitation of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The spokesman added that Taliban representatives are set to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iran’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, among other officials.

The Taliban’s delegates have paid several visits to Iran over the past months.

Iran strongly supports the realization of peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan, which has been embroiled in decades of militancy fueled by foreign military intervention.

The ongoing intra-Afghan peace process and US troop withdrawal from the war-torn country are expected to figure high during the discussions.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem said the two sides will discuss “relations between Tehran and Kabul, issues related to Afghan refugees in Iran, and prevailing political and security situation of Afghanistan and the region”.

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However, the rising incidents of violence and high civilian casualties have cast a shadow over the talks that first began in September last year.

Tuesday’s Taliban visit comes a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said a “new chapter has been opened” in Kabul’s relations with Washington, welcoming President Joe Biden’s plan to review the troop drawdown.