Iran, Russia, China, India, Afghanistan hold security talks in Tehran

Senior security officials of Iran, Russia, China, India and Afghanistan attend a meeting in Tehran to explore ways of prompting anti-terrorism fight and peace in the region.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani hosted Wednesday’s meeting dubbed ‘Regional Security Dialogue,’ which was joined by his counterparts from Rissia, China, India and Afghanistan, Nikolai Patrushev, Dang Jing Wing, Ajit Doval, and Hamdullah Mohib, respectively.

Speaking at the event, Shamkhani called for closer security and intelligence cooperation among the participating nations towards the enhancement of the ongoing fight against terrorism in the region.

Regional states, he said, need to take security matters into their own hands and help prevent foreign meddling and interventionism in the region.

The meeting came only four days after a terrorist attack during a military parade in the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz killed 25 people.

Commenting on the tragedy, Shamkhani said the terror attack once again laid bare the “double-standard attitude” adopted by certain states, which only claim to be fighting terror.

Examples of such a dual attitude, he said, were “instrumentalization” of terrorism by providing financial, political, logistical, and ideological support for the phenomenon.

He censured the “instumentalization” terrorism as well as the financial, political, logistical and ideological support for terror groups as example of such double-standard polices.

Afghanistan on agenda

During the meeting, Patrushev also addressed the situation in Afghanistan, which has been grappling with Taliban and Daesh militancy over the past years.

The senior Russian official warned against growing military capabilities of Afghanistan’s local Taliban militant group despite the presence of thousands of American forces in the country.

“The Taliban’s military successes prove the futility of attempts to bet on the use of military force in persuading Afghanistan’s traditional opposition to negotiate,” he said. “It can be stated that this is happening despite the United States 17-year military presence in Afghanistan.”

Commenting on the security situation of his country, Mohib said the terrorists wreaking havoc on Afghanistan could not be dealt an effective blow as long as they enjoy financial and logistical support from abroad.

The Chinese and Indian security officials also addressed the meeting, expressing their countries’ readiness to help devise mechanisms to cut the flow of foreign aid to the terrorists operating in the region.

The participating states also condemned the terror attack in Iran’s Ahvaz.