TEHRAN — Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has said the Islamic Republic has based its policy on good neighborliness and has tried not to intervene in the domestic affairs of regional countries.

“We have always pursued this policy with regard to the six countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and have informed them in different languages that we are ready to co-exist peacefully with you,” Mousavi said on Wednesday, IRNA reported.

He said the Islamic Republic has 15 neighbors and attaches great importance on every one of its neighbors.

“A safe region, in our view, is a region that has safe neighbors,” he said. 

“If we believe that our well-being is intertwined with neighboring countries’ well-being, this would reduce some of the losses inflicted on the region,” the spokesman argued.

However, he said, some of “our neighbors do not share this view and believe that their existence is in the lack of existence of others.”

Taliban is a reality which cannot be ignored: Mousavi

Mousavi also pointed to Afghanistan as one of the most important neighbors of Iran, saying the Islamic Republic of Iran has always regarded Afghanistan as a friendly neighboring country.

He went on to say that Taliban is a reality in Afghanistan and cannot be ignored.

“Ignoring it will lead to continuation of instability and tension in this country,” he added.

“Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran has striven to interact with this group and convince them to hold talks with the central government of Afghanistan in order to reach a solution,” Mousavi stated.

In recent months, Iran has been trying to restore peace and stability to Afghanistan by encouraging Afghan groups to find a solution through dialogue.

Last month, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed meeting with Taliban delegates, headed by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of Taliban’s Qatar-based political bureau, in Tehran.

“We meet with all Afghan groups in line with working on peace in Afghanistan. The delegates came to Iran for this purpose,” Zarif said.

According to IRNA, during the meeting, Zarif said that Iran is ready to help boost dialogue among the Afghan groups.

He also said that Iran is ready to expand cooperation with the Afghans based on mutual interests.

Also, in a meeting with Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on November 1, Iranian Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said that Tehran supports Afghan-Afghan peace talks.

Meanwhile, the second edition of Regional Security Dialogue with a focus on Afghanistan kicked off in Tehran on Wednesday morning with participation of Iran, Russia, China, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, security chiefs of Iran and Russia warned about the deliberate relocation of remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terror group from their former Middle East bastions to Afghanistan.

“Since Daesh’s defeat in Iraq and Syria, one of the [pressing] security concerns has been the relocation of the defeated Daesh elements from the two countries to Afghanistan,” Press TV quoted Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying.

The purpose behind the relocation is providing the terror group with a base for planning, organizing and carrying out acts of terror against the Central Asian country and its neighbors, he added.

Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, said Afghanistan currently is home to between 2,500 and 4,000 Daesh terrorists.

The Russian official pointed the finger at the U.S. for relocating Daesh terrorists to Afghanistan.

This is not the first time that the alarm has been set off about the outfit’s presence in the war-torn country, as well as Washington’s role in transferring its members there.

MH/PA