Iran, Taliban officials say US pushing war in Afghanistan

 Iranian and Taliban officials met in Tehran on Wednesday and accused U.S. of provoking continuation of war in Afghanistan, Iranian State TV reported.Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told visiting Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar that U.S. seeks to continue war in neighboring Afghanistan.

“ U.S. strategy supports continuation of war and bloodshed among various Afghan groups in political spectrum,” Shamkhani was quoted as saying. He said U.S. tries to blame insecurity and instability in country on individual Afghan groups.

re was immediate comment from U.S., which signed a peace agreement with Taliban last February and met its goal this month of reducing number of troops in Afghanistan to about 2,500. Taliban representatives and Afghan government earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar, Gulf Arab state where insurgents maintain an office.

stop-and-go talks are aimed at ending decades of conflict. But frustration and fear have grown over a recent spike in violence, and both sides blame one ar.Baradar, who arrived Monday with a Taliban delegation, criticized U.S. for allegedly breaking its commitments to February deal. He did t elaborate.

“We do t trust U.S. and will fight any group that is a mercenary for U.S.,” he said.

Occasionally, Iranian and Taliban officials meet for what Tehran says are talks aimed at helping facilitate intra-Afghan dialogue.

Iran sees presence of U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq as a threat on its doorstep and routinely calls for ir departure. Iran and Afghanistan have some 945 kilometers (some 585 miles) of common border.