Abdullah Abdullah who is in Tehran was received by President Rouhani on Tuesday evening. Both leaders discussed bilateral issues when Mr. Rouhani believed that improved relations with neighbors especially Afghanistan had been a priority for Iran; “both nations should boost border cooperation to improve economic relations and trade; we welcome and actually are prepared to finalize the comprehensive draft of bilateral cooperation with Afghanistan, and see this visit a turning point in bringing relations to a level well-suited to Tehran-Kabul economic, trade, and cultural ties,” Rouhani emphasized.
President Rouhani believed that security was an important good the Afghans needed in the volatile region; “Iran wants to see a secure and stable as well as united Afghanistan in its eastern borders; in this venue, formation of national unity government is a brilliant initiative and valuable achievement which truly indicates the political insight and understanding of the leaders in preference of unity for different ethnic groups in Afghanistan,” he told the meeting. Rouhani then turned to drug trafficking and plantations in Afghanistan, the tackling of which entailed serious and all-out coordination between regional and international players.
Abdullah Abdullah for his part, appreciated Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for Afghan government and people; “in recent decades, Afghanistan had lived a hard life of war, conflict, and instability; however, Iran has been standing with our people and government in desperate situations,” Mr. Abdullah told Rouhani, reiterating his gratitude for Iran’s hosting large number of Afghan students in Iranian universities; “were it not for Iranian universities, Afghanistan’s government would invest huge amounts and consume very long hours to actually educate its future workforce and experts,” he admitted.
“Both countries require that a transparent figure of the exact number of Afghan nationals living in Iran be known; we hope to prepare Afghanistan to accept its people living now in Iran as soon as possible,” said Afghanistan’s CEO, “Afghan national unity government had a strong will to fight drug trafficking; bilateral ties enjoy excellent conditions and mutual respect which would help tackle all barriers in bringing further improvements to relations,” he said.
He also emphasized that the process of preparing the comprehensive draft of bilateral cooperation and joint commission on water and environmental disputes between two countries take a rapid turn.
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