TEHRAN – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met Iran’s new ambassador to Afghanistan on Sunday and received his credentials.

A day earlier Ambassador Bahador Aminian submitted a copy of his credentials to Afghan acting Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman.

Aminian said that Iran seeks to expand relations with Afghanistan in various areas.

He also said that Iran supports Afghan peace talks.

Zaman praised Iran’s support for the Afghan people and government.

In an interview with an Afghan TV channel aired on December 10, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said foreign interference in the Afghan peace talks is “unacceptable”.

“Peace is for the Afghans and must be managed by the Afghan government, and the Taliban must be part of this process,” IRNA quoted him as saying in the interview.

During a speech at the Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia Countries in Istanbul on December 10, Zarif said that Iran supports an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process with the participation of all political groups and factions.

“We support an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process with the participation of all political groups and factions including the Taliban with the Afghan government in the center,” he said.

He added, “We believe the United Nations could become active to bring all domestic groups as well as international partners of the Afghan government under one umbrella to facilitate this process.”

In a meeting with Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Uzbekistan on November 1, Iranian First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri also said that people in Afghanistan should decide their own fate, reaffirming Tehran’s support for Afghan-Afghan peace talks.

NA/PA