American and Iranian officials gathered in Moscow for Afghanistan peace talks, highlighting a warming of US-Tehran relations under President Obama, reports the Times of London. “We’ve turned a page to have Iranians and Americans at the same table all discussing Afghanistan,” said Russia’s foreign minister at the Friday meeting, spearheaded by an Asian security coalition. Officials discussed battling terrorism and drug trafficking.
The US diplomat for central Asia attended the meeting with Iran’s deputy foreign minister, officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. The Iranian minister is set for a meeting on Afghanistan Tuesday in the Hague, where the US hopes he’ll meet with Hillary Clinton. “For the first time in two years I’m optimistic about Afghanistan,” said a Western official.
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