Anonymous Tehran, Iran – Iran is still some time away from officially recognising the Taliban as the government of neighbouring Afghanistan, its foreign ministry says, after a meeting with the group in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Sunday’s high-level talks with Taliban representatives were “positive”, but Iran is still “not at the point of officially recognising Taliban”.
“The current condition of Afghanistan is a major concern for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the visit of the Afghan delegation was within the framework of these concerns,” he added in a press conference on Monday.
The Taliban delegation, led by the group’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, met their Iranian counterparts led by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
It was the first such visit by a Taliban delegation since the group caused the collapse of the country’s Western-backed government amid the chaotic withdrawal of the United States-led forces in August.
Since the fall of Kabul, Iran’s official position has been that it will only recognise the Taliban if they manage to form an “inclusive” government. Iran and the Taliban have been in contact since, with special Iranian envoy Hassan Kazemi-Qomi making several trips to Afghanistan in recent months.
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