FNA - Former Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi dismissed the allegations made by the US officials that Tehran has established ties with the Taliban, saying that Washington is seeking to raise such unfounded claims, while the Afghan group has only received recognition from US allies in the region.

"When Taliban was created no country but Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan recognized it," said Vahidi, the current president of the National Defense University, addressing a forum in Tehran on Monday.

He reminded that the Taliban even formerly had an office in the US, and lashed out at the American officials for raising such allegations against Iran.

Iran has always underlined its support for the Afghan government and peace initiatives in the country.

In relevant remarks last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined his country's preparedness to help the UN efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate with the UN in all fields on Afghanistan and it strongly supports peace initiatives in the country," Zarif said in a meeting with Special Representative of the Secretary-General Tadamichi Yamamoto in Tehran.

Tadamichi, for his part, appreciated Iran for its supports for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

He also called on Iran to continue its constructive role by participating in the Geneva conference on Afghanistan in the future, to be hosted jointly by the UN and the Afghan government.

Also in November, Iran had renewed Tehran's backing for peaceful settlement of problems of Afghanistan, expressing the hope that the Afghanistan Peace Conference would achieve the intended outcomes.

"We and other countries are trying to help Afghanistan and I hope the conference would achieve its objectives, given the viewpoints presenting in it," said Director General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry for West Asian Affairs Rasoul Eslami, representing Iran in Afghanistan Peace Conference in Moscow.

Second International Afghanistan Peace Conference attended by regional and global players as well as friendly countries of Kabul was held in Moscow on November 9.

Meeting of the �Moscow Format� on Afghanistan took place on November 9 in a closed format in Moscow. For the first time in an international meeting of this level was attended by the delegation of the political office of the Taliban in Doha.

Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan attended the event. The US was also represented by an expert from its embassy in Moscow.