BISHKEK (TCA) — Iran wants to see a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, and welcomes any achievement in the path to an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process, Iran’s UN envoy said, Mehr News Agency reported.
Es’hagh Al-Habib, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, addressed the UN Security Council Ministerial Debate on “Building Regional Partnership in Afghanistan and Central Asia as a Model to Link Security and Development” on January 19 in New York.
Al-Habib noted Iran’s efforts in strengthening cooperation with Afghanistan as a “major pathway to consolidate peace, stability and economic development” in the neighboring country. He mentioned more than 300 development projects, the Trilateral Chabahar port facilities between Iran, India and Afghanistan and Khaf-Herat Railway, as well as funding and implementing many projects in the transfer of technology, know-how and training with Afghan workforces in various fields to help reconstruct the country.
Al-Habib also said that the US-led invasion of Afghanistan has merely led to the deterioration of the security situation in the country, urging enhanced economic ties with Kabul to pave the way for an international fight against terrorism there, PressTV reported.
“Afghanistan has not become more secure in the wake of the US invasion,” he said. “The fact is that the invasion of Afghanistan, and basically any invasion in our region, has failed to improve the security situation.”
The Islamic Republic believes that Afghanistan should be turned into a place for international cooperation rather than rivalry, he added.
“In the world today, peace, security and development cannot be bound to a single country’s borders and can only be achieved within all-inclusive regional frameworks,” the Iranian envoy said.
Al-Habib further stressed that increasing economic cooperation with Afghanistan promotes the fight against terrorism.
