Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, made the remarks in a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Wednesday.
Shamkhani said in the meeting that strengthening and expansion of all-out relations with neighboring countries is one of the unchangeable principles of Iranian foreign policy, adding “deep religious, cultural and historical ties between the two nations have created significant potentials for the development of relations based on the mutual interests.”
The Iranian top security official further said that Iran considers Afghanistan’s security as its own security, calling for accelerating the process of finalizing and signing the comprehensive document of bilateral relations.
He further said that the enemies are seeking to convey the ISIL terrorists to Afghanistan to further destabilize the country and fan the flames of war there.
He expressed Iran’s readiness to increase political, economic, and cultural relations and to deepen defense, military and security cooperation with brotherly and friendly Afghanistan, saying that broadening trade ties would have positive impact on maintaining border security and countering smuggling.
Shamkhani went on to describe the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan as a golden opportunity for the country to strengthen its defense and military capabilities with relying on its domestic and regional capacities, adding that "the nations of the region look forward to seeing complete withdrawal of US troops, whose presence has had no results but war and insecurity."
“The covert and destructive actions of some countries located beyond the region, especially the United States, will not help establish lasting peace in Afghanistan and increase the complexity of the formation of peace-building processes,” the top Iranian security official said.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani asked Shamkhani to convey his best regards to the Leader and president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and praised Shamkhani for his twenty-year long efforts to create integration among the countries of the region.
The Afghan president stressed the need to create joint and active mechanisms between the intelligence and security agencies of the two countries to increase capability in countering terrorism, organized crime and to fight against drug trafficking.
Sustainable security at the common borders is a main priority for Afghanistan, Ghani said, pointing to Afghan government's long-term strategic relations with Iran.
He further noted that the improvement of trade-economic capacities, especially in the area of goods transit, trade and border exchanges, ensures the formation of stable relations based on the long-term interests of the two countries.
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, accompanied by a number of high-ranking security, military and political officials, is in Kabul at the invitation of National Security Adviser of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib.
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