Taliban Boycotts Peace Talks in Iran

Afghanistan’s warring factions began peace talks in Tehran, but the Taliban militia, which controls two-thirds of Afghanistan, boycotted them. The Taliban objected to Iranian interference in Afghan affairs and said there was no chance of a cease-fire, said Mohammed Rabbani, head of the Taliban council running the Afghan capital, Kabul. President Burhanuddin Rabbani, ousted from Kabul by the Taliban in September, and an envoy of northern warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum were at the talks, along with U.N., Pakistani and Turkish officials.