Tehran rules out diplomatic ties with Taliban

TEHRAN (NNI): Despite the presence of an Iranian diplomatic delegation in Kabul, Iran on Saturday ruled out the possibility of recognizing and establishing diplomatic ties with the Afghan ruling Taliban militia.

"Tehran regards the Afghan Islamic government headed by ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani as the sole legal government of Afghanistan," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi.

The Taliban have controlled most of Afghanistan since ousting Rabbani in 1996 and fighting is going on between Taliban and the Rabbani-led United Front. Ties between two neighbors hit the bottom in August 1998 when nine Iranian nationals in Afghanistan, including eight diplomats and one journalist, were killed by the Taliban fighters in the northern city of Mazare Sharif.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, based on its national interests and security, is following up talks with the Taliban as an Afghan group on such topics as checking smuggling of narcotic drugs, Afghan refugees and border security, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IANA) quoted him as saying. He stressed that Iran is serious in its talks with Taliban on the issue of identifying and punishing agents behind the 1998 killing of Iranian diplomats and journalist in Afghanistan.

A six-member Iranian delegation arrived in Kabul on Thursday to hold talks with Taliban officials on trade, the first visit by an Iranian delegation since September 1996 when Taliban ousted Rabbani's government. Tehran claimed that the visit to the Taliban-controlled areas was aimed at inspecting Iranian diplomatic missions in the Afghan capital and other cities.

Bilateral ties improved only after Iran opened its eastern borders last November to allow the flow of food into Afghanistan following the U.N. sanctions on the Taliban. Iran's conservative daily Tehran Times on Wednesday quoted an official from the Foreign Ministry as saying that Iran has its terms and conditions for establishing ties with Afghanistan. "First, there should be a broad-based government in Kabul with the participation of all ethnic and religious communities," the official told the daily, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Asefi dismissed the report by saying that the issue of establishing relations with the Taliban group is not included in the agenda of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. In recent months, Taliban have repeatedly announced readiness to talk with Iran to remove any "misunderstandings" for normal ties with Tehran.

Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Motawakil sent a letter last month to Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, saying that Taliban want cordial ties with Iran on the basis of mutual respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs and cooperation.

Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal on Tuesday repeated Taliban's readiness to establish diplomatic ties with Iran. "The Iranians can reopen their embassy in Kabul according to diplomatic principles," he said.