TEHRAN - Officials from Iran and the government of Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in agricultural sectors.

The MOU was signed during a visit of a delegation from Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture to Kabul.

The document entails cooperation between the two neighbors in a range of fields, including plant protection, agricultural research, soil sciences, alternatives to poppy cultivation, irrigation, agricultural infrastructures, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, and support for the private sectors.

Back in November 2023, Iran and Afghanistan signed five other MOUs on cooperation in different economic sectors.

The MOUs were signed in a ceremony in the presence of Iranian Agriculture Minister Mohammad-Ali Nikbakht, President Raisi’s special envoy for Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi, and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Taliban Government Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The mentioned MOUs included the cooperation document of the Iran-Afghanistan Joint Economic Committee meeting, the document of the two sides’ Joint International Road Transport Cooperation Committee meeting, the MOU between Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) and the Afghan side, the MOU between Iran’s Esfahan Steel Company and the Afghan side, and the MOU between Iran’s Secretariat of Free Trade and Special Economic Zones and the Afghan sides.

Led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a 30-member delegation from Afghanistan visited Iran in early November 2023 when Iran’s capital Tehran hosted an Iran-Afghanistan Joint Economic Committee meeting for the first time after the new government in Afghanistan took office.

The Iranian and Afghan representatives to the Joint Economic Committee held the first day of their meeting, with high-ranking economic officials of both countries being in attendance.

The formation of joint working groups in fields such as trade, transit, transportation, customs, and the environment were discussed on the first day of the two-day meeting.

The two sides also agreed on the formation of several more working groups tasked with identifying problems in the way of economic cooperation between the two neighbors.

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