TEHRAN - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that the United States opposes “empathy and cooperation” between Iran and Afghanistan.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Tehran.

“The Americans and some regional countries are not aware of Afghanistan’s capacities and do not agree with the two countries’ cooperation and empathy, but Iran considers security and progress of its neighboring country, Afghanistan, as its own security and progress,” he stated.

The Leader pointed to historical and cultural commonalities between the two countries and said that in addition to “abundant natural resources”, Afghanistan has “rich cultural and human resources” and all these capacities and resources should be used to promote cooperation.

He cited Iran’s advances in various spheres of science, technology, culture and diplomacy as examples for cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

The Leader also said, “Issues between the two countries such as immigrants, water (sharing), transportation and security can all be settled and all the issues should be examined and resolved in the form of a timetable,” the Leader stated.

Ashraf Ghani stated that Afghanistan’s “political will” is based on expansion of relations with Tehran.

The two countries should make efforts to boost friendship, he added.

He went on to say that the Afghan government’s policies are to turn “paradoxes and domestic clashes” into “points of cooperation”.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Afghan president stated that no country has fought against drug trafficking so seriously than Iran, adding that Afghanistan is ready to cooperate with Iran in this regard.

NA/P