Tehran, SAEDNEWS, Dec. 12:Takht Ravanchi made the remarks in his Thursday address to the 40th Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly, entitled “The Situation in Afghanistan”.
He said that while Iran welcomes the rejection of revival of what is called “Islamic Emirate” in the neighboring country, it does not accept the presence of foreign occupying troops in the region.
The senior diplomat praised the Afghan government’s positive approach to peace talks with the Taliban, and at the same time urged the militant group to stop attacks against Afghan security forces if it wants to prove good faith.
He welcomed the progress made in the peace talks and expressed Iran’s preparedness to play a more active role to help its success in coordination with the UN.
“All foreign players must avoid interfering in the peace talks that must be facilitated by the UN. In this regard, we welcome the General Assembly’s call for further UN interaction in the peace process,” Takht Ravanchi added.
The envoy noted that despite the beginning of peace talks, the security situation in Afghanistan is still worrying, as the number of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure including educational and diplomatic centers is on the rise.
“We strongly condemn all these attacks, most of which are carried out by terrorist groups, especially ISIL whose elements are still being transferred from Syria and Iraq to Afghanistan,” he further said.
Iran’s UN ambassador said that sadly the opposition of certain Western countries made it impossible to include an independent paragraph in a resolution about the threats posed by ISIL terrorist outfit in Afghanistan, even though the group’s presence is a serious danger for the security of Afghanistan and the region.
In relevant remarks last month, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that his country supports the ongoing peace talks in Afghanistan, calling for the further expansion of bilateral relations.
Khatibzadeh made the remarks in a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Gran Hewad in Kabul on Wednesday November 25.
He said that strengthening and expanding public and cultural relations between the two governments and the brotherly nations of Afghanistan and Iran are in the interest of both countries.
Khatibzadeh stressed Iran's support for the ongoing peace talks while preserving the Islamic Republic and the 19-year achievements in Afghanistan, and expressed hope that the relations between the two countries in various fields, specially in the cultural and media sectors, would expand as much as possible.
He also invited Gran Hewad to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran at an appropriate time in order to discuss further development of relations between the two countries.
Hewad, for his part, referred to the deep and historical relations between the governments and peoples of the two countries, and expressed hope that Khatibzadeh's visit to Kabul would further expand relations between the two friendly and brotherly countries of Afghanistan and Iran (Source: Fars News).
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