Iran sends delegation to Afghanistan as Taliban-Tehran ties see boost

An Iranian delegation held talks in Kabul on Thursday focused on setting up a new customs office and inking an agriculture deal in steps designed to boost ties between the Taliban government and the Islamic Republic.

On Thursday the Taliban government’s acting minister for industry and commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, held a meeting with Iran’s deputy agricultural minister, Ali Reza Mohajer, and with Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s special envoy to Afghanistan. The trio discussed agricultural development in Afghanistan, establishing a customs office in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province, transit relations and other ways to boost trade between the two countries, the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency reported.

The same day, Mohajer and Mawlavi Sadr Azam Osmani, Afghanistan's deputy minister of agriculture, signed a cooperation agreement aimed at enhancing productivity and best practices regarding agriculture and livestock in the two countries, according to Bakhtar.