05 January 2019•Update: 05 January 2019
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
The visiting Iranian deputy foreign minister on Saturday assured Afghan leadership in Kabul of Tehran's support for the peace process in the war-ravaged country.
Abbas Araghchi, deputy foreign minister, arrived in Kabul on Saturday and met with his Afghan counterpart Edris Zaman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul.
Later, Araghchi and his delegation also met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Arg (presidential palace).
Both sides discussed the importance of government-to-government relations, the Afghan-led peace process in the ownership of the Afghans and how to better use the Chabahar port, a statement from the presidential palace said.
It added Iran's deputy foreign minister shared details with President Ghani about meeting between the Iranian authorities and the Taliban, the statement added.
Earlier this week, the Taliban confirmed their representatives visited Tehran on issues around peace and security in Afghanistan.
“The delegation visited Tehran to share Taliban’s views on ‘post-occupation’ scenario and establishment of peace and security in Afghanistan and the region with Iranian officials,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for Taliban, said in a statement on Jan. 1.
This came as the Taliban representatives held meetings in Abdu Dhabi with the top U.S peace negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, last month to discuss a political settlement and ways to facilitate direct talks between the rebels and the Afghan government.
Taliban said they also held meetings with officials from the UAE, Pakistan Saudi Arabia, but the group refused to meet a delegation from the Afghan government.
