TEHRAN - Iranian analyst Pir Mohammad Molazehi has said that Afghanistan’s government does not seek to weaken ties with Iran.

“Afghanistan’s government does not seek to weaken ties with Iran, because it needs Iran. Afghanistan is a landlocked country and Chabahar port is the only way for it to reach out and gain access to free waters. That is why it has made investment with participation of India,” Molazehi told IRNA in an interview published on Sunday.

He added that Iran and Afghanistan share many affinities and enjoy friendly relations, 

The two countries should protect their ties, Molazehi said.

Pointing to a visit by Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, to Iran on Sunday, he said the visit is aimed at finding a solution to reduce tension.

Atmar visited Iran as head of a high-ranking political, economic, and security delegation. The visit came a week after Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Afghan Ambassador Abdolghafour Lival over actions of certain anti-Iran groups in Afghanistan.

Rasoul Mousavi, an assistant to Iran’s foreign minister and the director-general of the Foreign Ministry Department for West Asia, expressed concerns over repercussions of such groups’ actions on relations between the two countries.

Certain groups have recently attacked the Iranian embassy in Kabul under the pretext that some Afghan migrants were drowned while they were trying to enter Iran.

It followed reports claiming that about 50 Afghan migrants crossing into Iran illegally had been beaten and thrown into a river. Iranian political and border officials have refuted the claim, saying the incident happened on the Afghan side of the border.

Iran has said it has extensive evidence that the incident has not happened on its borders.

NA/PA