Iran’s special envoy for Afghanistan urged “the UN and its Secretary-General to play a more significant role in helping the progress of intra-Afghan talks and international negotiations” in conversation with a senior UN official, while voicing “Iran’s support and preparedness for cooperation with the UN in this regard”. He also asserted that “Tehran considers Afghan peace and security as its own, and will support a peace process led and owned by Afghans”. According to an Iranian readout, “the two sides also expressed concerns over the escalation of violence in Afghanistan in the past three months, and called for de-escalation of violence and prevention of civilian casualties”.