Iran has invited a Taliban delegation from Doha, led by Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, senior Taliban negotiator in Qatar for “bilateral meetings”, said Mohammad Naeem, a Taliban spokesman on Wednesday. 

The delegation will also meet with a group of Afghan politicians, led by former vice president Younus Qanooni, who have travelled there from Kabul. 

Other officials from Kabul include Karim Khurram, former chief of staff to former President Hamid Karzai, Ershad Ahmadi, close aides of former President Karzai, President Ghani’s advisor Salaam Rahimi, Zahir Wahdat of Hezb-e-Wahdat party and Mohammadullah Batash from Junbish party.

The delegation and Iranian officials will discuss the Afghan peace talks. 

On Tuesday, Qatar's Special Envoy to Afghanistan arrived in Kabul where he met a number of senior Afghan political leaders including former president Hamid Karzai to discuss how to expedite the stalled Doha peace talks. Al-Qahtani is also expected to meet Afghan government officials. 

The visit of Special Envoy to Afghanistan Mutlaq al-Qahtani to Kabul comes as a group of politicians led by Abdullah Abdullah postponed a trip to Qatar for talks with the Taliban following an unprecedented escalation of Taliban attacks. 

Sources told TOLOnews that Qatar intends to speed up the Afghan peace process with their appointment of a special envoy to Afghanistan. 

Regarding the purpose of the envoy's visit, Hamdullah Moheb, the national security adviser, said: “He may talk about peace, about what Qatar can do in the current situation, what they think about the Taliban, whether they want peace or not.” 

A senior Taliban negotiator announced the continuation of talks with the Republic team in Doha, but Mustafa Mastoor, a senior adviser to the High Council for National Reconciliation, said that the Doha talks have faced an impasse due to disagreements between the Taliban and Republic negotiators. 

“When the negotiation team of the republic's side is there, it is only at the contact group level, but it is very slow and not focused on substantial issues,” Mustafa Mastoor said. 

Meanwhile, Taliban’s negotiator Sohail Shaheen in an interview with foreign media said there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. 

“Military approach will bring victory but not a durable peace,” said Shaheen.  

Insufficient progress in the Doha peace talks and the escalation of the war all over Afghanistan has drawn strong criticism among the people of Afghanistan.