TEHRAN - Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar has congratulated his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian on winning Parliament’s endorsement to become Iran’s foreign minister.

The top Afghan diplomat expressed confidence that Amir Abdollahian’s appointment to the post will pave the road for further expansion of relations between the two brotherly and friendly nations of Iran and Afghanistan and will boost regional and international cooperation based on mutual interests, the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement. 

The talks came after a recent phone conversation between Abdollahian and Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdulalh Abdulalh who congratulated Abdollahian on his appointment as the Islamic Republic’s top diplomat.

In a phone call, Abdullah Abdullah thanked Iran for defending the Afghan people.

Abdullah also spoke of the dire situation in Afghanistan and called on Iran to send humanitarian aid to his country.

The two sides agreed on the need to fight the heinous phenomenon of terrorism. They also discussed the formation of an inclusive government with the participation of all Afghan ethnic groups and factions. They also reaffirmed their position that it’s only up to the Afghan people to determine their country’s future.

Earlier this week, Afghanistan’s neighbors held talks over the situation in the country during a teleconference.

Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, an advisor to Iran’s foreign minister and the country’s special envoy for Afghanistan told his counterparts from other neighbors of the war-torn country that peace can only be achieved there through the formation of an inclusive government with the participation of al Afghan groups.
Taherian underlined the need to end the ordeal of the Afghan people.

Taherian also referred to the three-way phone conversation between the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and China over the upcoming virtual meeting involving the top diplomats of Afghanistan’s neighbors, proposed to be held on Wednesday, September the 8th. He expressed hope that the foreign ministers send a clear and strong message, reaffirming their support for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

In a Monday meeting with Tehran-based foreign ambassadors, Abdollahian touched on developments in Afghanistan. The meeting took place at the Foreign Ministry’s Shaheed Soleimani Building of the Political and International Studies Compound. During the meeting, Iran’s top diplomat spoke of the situation in Afghanistan. He said Iran is in touch with all countries involved and wants a broad-based government to be formed in Afghanistan with the participation of all Afghans. He voiced concern over the developments in Afghanistan as well as the growth of terrorism and drug trafficking there, saying, “Sending humanitarian aid is one of our priorities and despite the difficult conditions, we have tried to keep our border crossings open to send in aid and to keep doing business.”

On Tuesday, the Iranian parliament held a closed session on Afghanistan with IRGC’s Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani in attendance. 

In a press briefing about the session, Seyed Nizamuddin Mousavi, a spokesman for the Parliament’s presiding board, said The Islamic Republic has complete knowledge about the developments in Afghanistan. “The issue of Afghanistan is important for Iran from different aspects, and in terms of the connection between the two nations of Iran and Afghanistan, we can not be indifferent to these developments,” he said, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

“In this meeting, General Qaani spoke accurately, strongly in a documented way about Afghanistan, and a number of representatives also expressed their views,” the spokesman said, adding, “Given the relations that exist between the two countries, we pay due attention to these developments, and it is not that our foreign policy, security, and defense apparatuses have been surprised by the current developments.”