Afghanistan keen to bolster ties with Iran

Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Tehran Nassir Ahmad Nour underscored Tehran's significant position in the region, and stressed the need for the expansion of all-out ties between the two neighbors. Addressing the Afghanistan Elite Immigrants Conference on Thursday evening, Ahmad Nour said, “It is hoped that the level of bilateral cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan would improve during new Iranian administration.” He further appreciated the Iranian nation and officials supports for his country’s citizens resigning in Iran. During the two-day Afghanistan Elite Immigrants Conference Residing in Iran, the scientific and cultural capabilities of those elites for participation in the reconstruction process of their country would be discussed. Late in September, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Afghan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul hailed the existing bilateral relations between Tehran and Kabul, and pledged to try their best to broaden their countries' mutual cooperation in all fields. During the meeting on the sidelines of the 68th Annual Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Zarif said Tehran and Kabul enjoy close cordial ties, expressing Iran’s readiness for further promotion of all-out cooperation with Afghanistan. Zarif wished success for the brotherly nation of Afghanistan in 2014 during which foreign forces will leave the region. Rassoul, for his part, said Tehran and Kabul have never witnessed such close relations in the recent years. He praised Tehran's stance regarding Afghan developments, stressing that Tehran has always stood by the Afghan nation. Early in September, Iranian Interior Minister Abdol-Reza Rahmani Fazli and Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Jamaher Anwari, in a meeting in Tehran, stressed the need for broadening mutual cooperation between Tehran and Kabul in all fields. After the meeting with the visiting Afghan minister, Rahmani Fazli said the two sides exchanged views on various issues including Afghan refugees residing in Iran, and reiterated call for expansion of mutual cooperation between the two neighboring countries. In mid-August, Iran and Afghanistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on increasing cooperation between the two neighboring states in security and law enforcement fields, an Iranian official said. "In a recent visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Tehran, an MoU on security and law enforcement cooperation was endorsed between the secretariats of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and Afghanistan's National Security Council," former Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi said in his weekly press conference in Tehran at the time. Iran is one of the most important donors to Afghanistan which has kept its promises to help to the reconstruction of the war-hit country. Iran has built some roads, power transmission lines, and border stations, among the other infrastructure projects which would better link the two nations. Iran has also contributed more than $50mln annually to Afghan anti-narcotics efforts in the last decade.