Envoy urges Iran, Afghanistan to broaden bilateral ties

Iranian Ambassador to Kabul Mohammad Reza Bahrami called for the further expansion of mutual cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan. “Afghanistan is a friend of Iran and Tehran is also trying to increase its cooperation with the people of that country,” Bahrami said, addressing a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in the Afghan capital on Tuesday night. He noted that Iran is currently hosting more than 140,000 Afghan high school students and over 11,000 Afghan university students. Bahrami underlined that Iran will support all the world and regional nations who want to get rid of domestic violence in their countries. During the ceremony, Afghan Vice President Karim Khalili felicitated Iran on the occasion of the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and said, “Iran and Afghanistan share many political, cultural, economic, social, scientific, lingual and religious commonalities which can help the two countries broaden their mutual cooperation. Iran is one of the most important donors to Afghanistan, which has kept its promises to help to the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country. Iran has built several roads, power transmission lines, border stations and many other infrastructure projects to better link the two nations. Iran has also contributed more than $50mln annually to Afghan anti-narcotics efforts during the last five years. Tehran has repeatedly called for a withdrawal of the US-led foreign troops from Afghanistan, stressing that establishment of peace and security in the war-ravaged country is possible only through cooperation among the regional states.