APD | Iran holds talks with Afghanistan's Taliban

By APD writer Rishika Chauhan

The Foreign Ministry of Iran informed on Tuesday that they had held talks with Taliban before talks between the US and Taliban were called off.

According to them the talks were taking place with the knowledge of the Afghan government.

Iranian media reports quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi explaining, “In the framework of Iran’s comprehensive consultations with all parties in Afghanistan, a Taliban political delegation visited our country recently to discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan with...Iranian officials,”

US peace talks failed last week as President Trump withdrew his invitation of a meeting with Islamist insurgents. The talks had been taking place to reach a peace accord, as the US is preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan.

The US is seeking security guarantees from Taliban, so that after the US withdrawal Afghanistan would not allow terrorists to be trained for activities against the US. The negotiations did not include the Afghan government.

However, there was rising dissent in the US about talking to those groups as they were being called members of terrorist organization in the US.

Previously, US has also accused Iran of helping Taliban in its activities against the US.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)