Tehran ready to expand Kabul ties

Iran’s caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says there are no obstacles on the way of expanding ties between the Islamic Republic and Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan has a special place in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and we share the same culture, language and religion… and we should be able to use this status to the benefit of the people of two countries,” Salehi said on Saturday.

Salehi made the remarks in a meeting with Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance Omar Zakhilwal and Minister of Economy Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal in Tehran.

“We are ready to cooperate with [our] Afghan brothers regarding mutual investment, banking and other economic and commercial matters,” Iran’s caretaker foreign minister said.

“I do not see any obstacles on the way of expanding cooperation between two countries,” he added.

Arghandiwal expressed his gratitude for Iran’s cooperation in different fields including reconstruction, expanding trade and support of strengthening Afghanistan’s regional status.

“You have always supported us in practice and no power can separate us from one another, we are a good neighbor for Iran and relations with others will not influence our ties.”

In another meeting with Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisian, Salehi stressed the importance of transit and said, “If regional countries are connected by railway, we can have a vast railway network, and our priority is neighboring countries.”

“Iran and Armenia do not have any political problems and this provides good grounds for expanding ties in different fields,” Movsisian said, calling for the strengthening of relations between the private sectors of the two countries.