Taliban Delegation Negotiates with Iranian Officials in Tehran

A few days after the visit of Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council to Afghanistan, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that a delegation from the Taliban traveled to Tehran and negotiated with a delegation headed by Abbas Araghchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister. According to IRNA news agency, Bahram Qasemi stated on Tuesday, January 9, that this delegation had "detailed negotiations" with the Iranian delegation. Mr. Qasemi mentioned that these discussions were conducted with the knowledge of the Afghan government and aimed at "advancing peace talks" between the government and Afghan groups. He also stated that the Taliban group had a "desire" to negotiate with Iran. This visit occurred shortly after Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran's National Security Council, traveled to Kabul and informed his Afghan counterpart that Iran has been in ongoing negotiations with the Taliban, which have been conducted with the knowledge of the Afghan government. Previously, Taliban leaders have also visited Iran. For instance, the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported in May 2015 that a political delegation of the Taliban from Qatar, led by "Tayyib Agha," the head of the group's political office, visited Tehran. Meanwhile, some Afghan government officials and Taliban leaders have stated that Iran and the Taliban are currently collaborating in covert operations to prevent the expansion of the influence of the "Islamic State" (ISIS) in Afghanistan. Following these reports, on May 31, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, confirmed the Islamic Republic's "contact" with the Taliban while stating that "we did not turn this contact into a relationship because we did not want to legitimize the Taliban." However, the United States accuses the Islamic Republic of supporting the Taliban. For instance, on October 23, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Taliban and eight of its supporters, claiming that two of them are Iranian and linked to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The department named "Mohammad Ibrahim Ohadi" and "Ismail Razavi," accusing them of supporting the Taliban with financial and technical resources on behalf of the Quds Force. Iran did not recognize the Taliban during their rule over parts of Afghanistan, and on August 8, 1998, armed Taliban militants attacked the Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of several diplomats and consulate staff, including Mahmoud Saremi, a reporter for the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).