Afghan FM: Iran playing positive role in ensuring security and creating regional consensus
TEHRAN – Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar has said Iran is playing a positive role in the region and creating regional consensus.
In a meeting with Iranian Ambassador in Kabul Bahdor Aminian on Tuesday, the Afghan foreign minister also called for continuation of Iran's constructive role in the Afghan peace talks.
Praising Tehran’s policy, the Afghan foreign minister said Iran has encouraged Taliban, as an influential group in the country's security, to join the peace talks.
The peace talks between Afghanistan government and the Taliban group started on Sept. 12, 2020, with the participation of a number of foreign ministers and representatives of international organizations, which have so far only managed to agree on the agenda of the talks.
The second round of peace talks between the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban group began in the Qatari capital Doha.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi who visited Kabul in December said Iran and Afghanistan are neighbors and share common interests and concerns.
Araghchi held talks with a number of high-level talks with Afghan officials including Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation. Araghchi said peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan directly affect Iran.
“This association shows that peace and stability in Afghanistan is peace and stability in Iran and that the well-being of the Afghan people is directly related to the progress of the Iranian people, and this is a strategic fact,” the deputy foreign minister said.
Iran, Afghanistan insist on closer ties
During the Tuesday meeting, Foreign Minister Atmar and Ambassador Aminian also emphasized the need to strengthen political, economic, and trade ties between Iran and Afghanistan.
Iran and Afghanistan officially inaugurated the strategic Khaf-Herat railway project on December 10. The 222-kilometers-long Khaf-Herat railway is part of the Iran-Afghanistan rail corridor. The project started in the fiscal year of 2007-2008, connects Iran’s eastern city of Khaf to Afghanistan’s western city of Ghoryan.
The project was implemented in four parts, Iran was in charge of completing three of the mentioned four parts, two of which are in the Iranian territory and the other two are on the Afghan side.
AJ/PA