Afghanistan’s Deputy FM Departs For Kabul

Tehran, July 10, IRNA – Deputy Afghan Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ershad Ahmadi departed Tehran for Kabul Tuesday night after a visit on an invitation extended by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs. The aim of the Afghan deputy foreign ministerˈs visit was announced as strengthening bilateral ties, and consultations aimed at expansion of bilateral, regional and international cooperation. In the course of the Afghan diplomat’s visit, from July 7th to 9th, the two countries political consultations committee was convened headed by the two countriesˈ deputy foreign ministers. The report noted that strengthening regional cooperation, agreement on holding the 5th Joint Economic Commission in Tehran, holding a Joint Consular Affairs Conference in Kabul, and boosting cooperation in various fields, including water, energy, commerce, planning for the upcoming transportation conference, and cooperation between the two countriesˈ diplomatic training institutes were among the axes of the agreements reached during this visit. Both sides, meanwhile, emphasized the need for strengthening and continuing joint cooperation in campaign against terrorism, extremism, and cultivation, production and trafficking of illicit drugs. In addition to meeting with his Iranian counterpart, the Afghan deputy foreign minister during his visit met and conferred with the Islamic Republic of Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Sa’eid Jalili, and Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Disciplinary Affairs Ali Abdollahi and Head of Foreign Ministryˈs Training and Education Center Hassan Soleimanpour. In these meetings, Ershad Ahmadi appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iranˈs support for the Afghan government and nation during the past decades and expressed certainty that the friendly and brotherly relations of the two neighboring countries would expand more than ever before during the new Iranian presidentˈs tenure. At the end of the Afghan diplomat’s visit, the two deputy foreign ministers issued a joint communiqué, in which the two countriesˈ friendly and brotherly ties and comprehensive cooperation are further stressed./end