Pakistan, March 10, 2010: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in Kabul for talks with Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.

It is Mr Ahmadinejad’s first visit to Afghanistan since both men were re-elected last year.

The US has criticised Iran for offering the Taliban low-level support, while Tehran says Afghanistan’s problems will end only when foreign troops leave.

Later, Mr Karzai will hold talks with another key neighbour when he heads to Pakistan for a two-day visit.

Mr Ahmadinejad’s visit to Afghanistan coincides with one by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who is reviewing the progress of the current Western troop surge against the Taliban.

Mr Gates has accused Tehran of “playing a double game” of offering friendship to the Afghan government while at the same time giving “low-level support” and money to the Taliban.

Iran denies the allegations. It says all of Afghanistan’s problems stem from the presence of foreign troops and they should all leave.

Mr Ahmadinejad has always argued that Iran has supported the Afghan political process and that Tehran needs a stable and secure Afghanistan.

Mr Gates, attending a base in Kabul province on Wednesday where Western troops are training Afghan soldiers, called Mr Ahmadinejad’s visit “bothersome”.

He said the US wanted Afghanistan to have good relations with its neighbours but that those neighbours must treat Afghanistan fairly.

He also said US troops might begin to leave Afghanistan before the previously stated withdrawal start date of July 2011, depending on “conditions on the ground”.

However, he added: “We should not be too impatient.

“At the end of the day, only Afghans will be able to provide long-term security for Afghanistan.”

Later on Wednesday Mr Karzai will head to Pakistan, which has been accused in the past of providing a haven to the Afghan Taliban.

However, it has recently stepped up its drive to arrest Taliban leaders, including alleged second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Later on Wednesday, Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to deliver a speech in the US, urging President Karzai to do more to find a political solution to the conflict with the Taliban.

The military effort alone will not be enough to resolve the conflict, he is expected to say, and Afghanistan’s neighbours will need to play a central role in securing peace in the country.