TEHRAN — Iran and Afghanistan discussed a recent incident at the common border that resulted in the deaths of Afghan migrants trying to cross into Iran illegally.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs Mohsen Baharvand met with Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul on Tuesday evening.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the results of a probe into a deadly incident along the Iran-Afghanistan borders.

Baharvand underlined the need for cooperation of both countries within the framework of the joint committee to probe the case, Mehr reported.

Abdullah stressed the good neighborliness between Iran and Afghanistan, saying his country wants a serious and fair investigation into the human tragedy.

Earlier in the day, the Iranian delegation held a meeting with an Afghan delegation headed by Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar in Kabul.

At that meeting, Atmar called for Iran’s full cooperation on joint investigations related to the incident.

“The purpose of this research is to get the facts, to take legal action against the perpetrators, and to take the necessary measures to prevent such unfortunate incidents in the future, which may affect the relations between the two friendly and neighboring countries,” he said.

On May 1, some claims surfaced in media reports that Iranian border guards had tortured and thrown as many as 57 Afghans into the Hari River (Harirud) in western Herat province to prevent their illegal entry into Iran. The Khaama Press News Agency said at least 23 of them drowned in Harirud.

Iranian border officials have dismissed reports that they were drowned by Iranian border guards. Iran has said the incident happened on the Afghan side of the border.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has rejected as a “bitter joke” a claim by the United States that Iranian guards were involved in the tragic deaths of Afghan migrants.

“Iran has strong ties with Afghanistan & leads the way to help Afghan leaders for inclusive Gvt. What happened to Afghan nationals in Herat is tragic & unrelated to Iran, but U.S. regime’s allegation against Iran is a ‘bitter joke’,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement published via Twitter on May 5.

“The (US) regime is a war criminal in Afghanistan & state sponsor of terrorism across the world,” the statement added.

MH/PA