Taliban Foreign Minister Arrives In Iran For First Official Visit

The spokesman of Taliban’s ministry of foreign affairs, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said in a tweet on Saturday afternoon that Muttaqi’s first official visit was upon an invitation from Iran.

During the stay, the Taliban delegation is slated to discuss a wide range of political and economic topics as well as issues related to the transit of goods and Afghan refugees.

Before departing for Tehran, the Afghan delegation held a preliminary meeting in the 19th Century Storai Palace, to assess their agenda of their visit to Iran.

In December, Iran proposed that Muslim states establish a joint fund to help stabilize Afghanistan and prevent a serious crisis from impacting other regional countries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the time also stated that sustainable calm in Afghanistan is only possible through an inclusive and effective government in which all ethnic and religious groups would be present.

Tehran insists that despite an economic crisis due to US sanctions, it has accepted more than 300,000 Afghan refugees following the collapse of the government in Kabul. However, the International Organization for Migration said in November that Iranian and Pakistani authorities have sent back more than one million Afghan refugees this year.