A senior Taliban delegation, headed by the group negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, has traveled to Tehran to discuss “bilateral issues” with Iran. Significantly, a delegation of the Afghan government is also there leading to speculation that the Iranian government might be mediating between the two sides that have been at odds for the future of Afghanistan. 

A report in TOLOnews says Iran called both teams to Tehran to discuss the rapidly deteriorating security situation in its eastern neighbor. Younis Qanooni, the former Afghan vice president, is heading the government delegation to hold talks with the insurgent group in Tehran. 

The intervention from Tehran comes at a time when the warring parties failed to make any progress at the negotiation table in Doha, and the Taliban intensified its war on the battlefield, increasing the fear of a military takeover. 

Tehran had made it clear that they will not accept a return of Emirate (the Taliban regime) on their east. However, it also added that the Taliban are part of Afghanistan, but can’t represent the whole of Afghanistan. 

Both Iran, a Shia majority country, and the Taliban, a Sunni hardline group, don’t see eye to eye when it comes to ideology. In fact, in the 90s, when the group was controlling most of the country, Iran supported crucial anti-Taliban factions, known as the Northern Alliance. However, later, both cooperated, at least on the tactical level: to fight their common enemy, the United States. 

Meanwhile, Qatar--the host of intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha-- also intensified peace efforts and appointed a special envoy to Afghanistan, Mutlaq al-Qahtani, who traveled to Kabul on Tuesday. 

Qahtani, TOLOnews reported, has held discussions with senior Afghan leaders to fastrack the peace process. His visit to Afghanistan came after Abdullah Abdullah, the main Afghan peace negotiator, refused to travel to Doha amid the Taliban offensive in the country.