TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Monday high-level talks with Taliban representatives were “positive”, but Iran is still “not at the point of officially recognizing Taliban”.
“The current condition of Afghanistan is a major concern for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the visit of the Afghan delegation was within the framework of these concerns,” he added in a press conference.
The Taliban delegation, led by the group’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, met their Iranian counterparts led by Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian.
It was the first such visit by a Taliban delegation since the group caused the collapse of the country’s Western-backed government amid the chaotic withdrawal of the United States-led forces in August.
Since the fall of Kabul, Iran’s official position has been that it will only recognize the Taliban if they manage to form an “inclusive” government. Iran and the Taliban have been in contact since, with special Iranian envoy Hassan Kazemi-Qomi making several trips to Afghanistan in recent months.
Prior to Sunday’s meeting, both sides said they wish to discuss political, economic, transit, and refugee issues.
According to an Iranian foreign ministry statement, Amir-Abdollahian criticized “wrong policies” by the United States and its allies in Afghanistan during the meeting, and said the U.S. must lift its sanctions based on humanitarian grounds and to help the Afghan people and economy.
He also promised that Iran will continue to send humanitarian aid to its neighbor, and said: “the efforts of the zealous people of Afghanistan showed that no foreign power can occupy Afghanistan and rule over its people”.
Amir-Abdollahian also reminded Muttaqi of the 1998 murder of Iranian
 diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif during a consulate siege in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and said the Taliban now have a responsibility to protect diplomatic offices.
Iran and Taliban border forces also had a brief clash last month in Hirmand, which both later described as a “misunderstanding”.
Muttaqi was quoted as saying during Sunday’s meeting the new Afghan government emphasizes the point that “it is not against any of its neighboring countries”.
The two sides also reportedly agreed that further meetings will be scheduled between technical delegations to discuss the issue of Iran’s water rights from the Helmand River.
On Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian said the United States seeks to create rifts between Afghanistan and its neighboring countries now that its 20-year occupation of the country has failed.
“Afghanistan’s funds that have been blocked by the U.S. must be released for humanitarian reasons to help improve the economic situation of the Afghan people,” he said.
Muttaqi appreciated the hospitality that Iran has offered the Afghan refugees in the past 43 years, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always stood by Afghanistan.
The crippling sanctions imposed on Afghanistan by the U.S. government and its allies are taking a heavy toll, exposing millions of crisis-stricken people to the vagaries of freezing winter.
Muttaqi said although the U.S. left Afghanistan in a disgraceful defeat, it continues to target the Afghan people with its policies. As a result, 80% percent of the Afghan people have fallen below the poverty line, the delegation said.
The U.S. froze nearly $10 billion of Afghanistan’s funds after the Taliban’s takeover, dismissing repeated calls to release them.