Just one week after American officials reportedly met with a Taliban delegation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Adm. Ali Shamkhani confirmed for the first time that Iran has also held talks with the Taliban. Shamkhani made the comments during a Dec. 26 visit to Kabul to meet with Afghan officials, including President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and national security adviser Hamdullah Mohib, to discuss regional and bilateral security issues.
According to Shamkhani, the purpose of the talks between Iran and the Taliban were conducted in order to “solve security problems” and “the entirety of the talks with the Taliban were held with the knowledge of the Afghan government.” He said the “process of the talks would continue.”