TEHRAN - Mohammad Ebrahim Taherianfard, the special envoy of Iran’s foreign minister for Afghanistan, has met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the Taliban’s political bureau chief based in Doha.

Reducing violence, starting intra-Afghan talks without foreign interference, especially by the United States, and common interests of Iran and Afghanistan were discussed during the meeting, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held a video conference late on Monday in which Pompeo pressed the Taliban to reduce violence in Afghanistan and discussed ways of moving a peace deal signed between the U.S. and the Taliban in February forward, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted.

The call comes as the U.S. peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, is touring the region in efforts to advance the deal. He was in Uzbekistan on Tuesday and was expected in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, later in the day or on Wednesday, and was also to travel to Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office.

NA/PA