Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and the Iranian Special Representative for Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi said on Tuesday that Afghanistan and Iran are working to expand their economic and political relations.
Qomi, leading a delegation, arrived in Kabul on Monday and held talks with several officials of the Islamic Emirate including Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Muttaqi said the Iranian delegation was comprised of technical teams from different ministries which held talks with relevant Afghan teams.
Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate has also appointed technical teams from the related ministries who will hold talks with the Iranian teams in the future to expand cooperation.
According to Muttaqi, the teams will discuss issues related to economic cooperation, border issues, and Afghan refugees in Iran.
“The people of Afghanistan and the new government of Afghanistan want good relations with the neighboring countries and the world, especially with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Our relations with Iran have been good and we are trying to improve them further,” Muttaqi said.
Meanwhile, Qomi also said they had good discussions with Islamic Emirate officials, especially over economic cooperation.
Qomi said Afghanistan is under sanctions and Iran is trying to expand its economic cooperation with Afghanistan at this crucial juncture.
“We had positive and constructive talks on different issues, including expanding cooperation between the two countries, mainly in the economic sector and issues related to borders,” he said.
Qomi added that some countries are trying to destabilize Afghanistan through their proxies and thus Iran is working to cooperate with Afghanistan in the security area as well. “Today the people of Afghanistan are under pressure from terrorist groups being supported by the outsiders,” he said.
In the meantime, Muttaqi in an interview with Pakistan’s Geo News said the enmity between the Taliban and the United States has ended and now Kabul wants to have diplomatic relations with Washington.
Muttaqi also said the United States should release Afghanistan assets and the international community should recognize the new government.
The international community, however, has repeatedly said respect for human rights, especially women’s rights, and the formation of an inclusive government are conditions for recognition.
