Report: Afghan Taliban delegation visits Iran

Report: Afghan Taliban delegation visits Iran
Updated on

Summary According to Iranian media Taliban held talks with Iranian intelligence officials.

 

TEHRAN (AP) - A semi-official Iranian news agency says Tehran has hosted a delegation of the Afghan Taliban, the radical Sunni group that has long been a sworn enemy of Iran s ruling Shiite clerics.

 

The Fars agency reported on Saturday that the Taliban held talks with Iranian intelligence officials.

 

Fars says the visitors came from the Taliban s political office in Qatar. The group recently opened a mission in the Gulf Arab country to provide a venue where Afghan President Hamid Karzai s emissaries could hold talks with the Taliban to try to find a peaceful end to the 12-year war in Afghanistan.

 

Fars gave no other details. Other media didn t report on the unprecedented visit.

 

The visit signals Iran could be seeking the role of a regional mediator between the Taliban and Karzai s government.