He made the remarks in his meeting with visiting Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Tehran on Thu. and pointed out that strengthening bilateral relations can pave the way for the development and consolidation of regional and international cooperation between Iran and Pakistan.
President Raeisi pointed to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as a turning point for all Afghan ethnic groups to initiate interactions to establish peace, security and stability in their country, adding that the United States has not any capacity to spread lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The US presence in Afghanistan and the region does not create peace and security so that all regional countries should help Afghanistan to form an inclusive and participatory government, he emphasized.
He also rejected any "guardianship" approach about the administration of Afghanistan as a failed model orchestrated by the United States which lacked the capacity to create lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Elsewhere in his remarks, President Raeisi stressed that other countries, including Afghanistan's neighbors, should only facilitate the establishment of an inclusive and participatory government with the presence of all Afghan ethnic and political groups.
Pointing out that the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been to support the people of Afghanistan for the past four decades, the President stated that Iran hosts about 4 million Afghan people and has always been and will continue to support the Afghan people.
Visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister, for his turn, described Iran-Pakistan relations as historic and deep and said that Pakistan seeks to deepen and strengthen relations between the two countries on many regional and international issues and in various economic, political and regional fields.
He voiced his country's determination to further improve the level of Tehran-Islamabad relations.
Qureshi further stressed the importance of cooperation between the two countries in establishing lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and said that Iran, as a major player in regional developments, can cooperate with Islamabad in strengthening peace and stability in the region, especially in Afghanistan.
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