Iran hosts Afghan government, Taliban for talks
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif celebrated the looming US withdrawal from Afghanistan during the event.
Iran hosted intra-Afghan talks on Wednesday as the date of the US military withdrawal nears.
Delegations from the Afghan government and the Taliban participated in the meeting in the Irani capital, Tehran. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif chaired the talks, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also confirmed their participation in a tweet.
The Afghan government — supported by US and NATO forces — has been at war with the Taliban since the US invasion in 2001, which ended Taliban rule. The radical Islamist group still controls parts of the country, however. US President Joe Biden decided in April to remove US troops from the country. The withdrawal is ongoing and scheduled to be complete in August.
Iran borders Afghanistan, and the two countries have longstanding historical ties. Dari, a form of Persian, is the lingua franca of Afghanistan. Iran has provided support to both the Afghan government and the Taliban in recent years. Some Afghans from the country’s Shiite Muslim Hazara community also fight in Syria on behalf of Iran.
