Iran foreign minister meets senior Afghan Taliban leader in Tehran

Mohammad Javad Zarif expresses Iran's willingness to support dialogue between all Afghan parties

GENEVA: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held talks in Tehran with a Afghan Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the group's founders, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Zarif expressed Iran's willingness to support dialogue between all Afghan parties with the participation of the Afghan government, according to IRNA.

The Taliban have refused to talk to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government, denouncing it as a US puppet.

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Last week, the Taliban released American and Australian university professors held hostage for more than three years, completing a delayed prisoner swap and raising hopes for a revival of peace talks.

Iran also held talks with a delegation from Afghanistan's Taliban in September, a week after peace talks between the United States and the insurgents collapsed.

The Rouhani government said in December it had been meeting Taliban representatives with the knowledge of the Afghan government, after reports of US-Taliban talks about a ceasefire and a possible withdrawal of foreign troops.