News   /   Politics

Iran, Afghanistan resolute in anti-terror fight: Rouhani

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani (3rd L) and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani (3rd R) hold a meeting in Tehran on April 19, 2015 in the presence of the two countries’ senior officials.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran and Afghanistan are firmly determined to strengthen cooperation to counter the threat of extremism and terrorism across the region.

Speaking at a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Tehran on Sunday, Rouhani said security issues and acts of terror in the region are among concerns shared by Tehran and Kabul.

“The region is presently faced with many problems in this regard (terrorism) and we are deeply sad and concerned over the killing of innocent people by terrorists,” the Iranian president stated.

He added that Iran and Afghanistan both call for “the establishment of peace and stability throughout the region and believe that problems in regional countries including Yemen cannot be settled militarily.”

Noting that warplanes and bombardment would bear no fruits, he said people and political groups in Yemen should hold national dialog to solve their problems while other countries and neighbors should only prepare the ground for such talks.

Rouhani once again stressed the importance of putting an end to the continuing airstrikes against Yemen and helping Yemeni groups hold dialog in order to restore security, stability and peace to their impoverished Arab country.

A Yemeni gunman loyal to fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, raises his weapon in a street during clashes with Houthi fighters in the southern Yemeni city of Ta’izz on April 18, 2015. © AFP

Saudi Arabia began its military aggression against Yemen on March 26, without a UN mandate, in a bid to restore power to fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a close ally of Riyadh.

According to sources in the Yemeni army, more than 2,600 people have been killed during the aggression.

Rouhani further said poppy cultivation and drug trafficking are threatening Tehran and Kabul, and expressed Iran’s readiness to boost cooperation with Afghanistan in a bid to fight drug smugglers.

Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug trafficking over the past three decades.

The country has spent more than USD 700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries. The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of at least 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past 34 years.

Rouhani also hailed national cohesion in Afghanistan and said mutual confidence between the Afghan people and government would lead to stability, security and development which are “beneficial to both Afghan people and regional nations.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) shakes hands with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani in Tehran on April 19, 2015.

The Afghan president, for his part, said his country is determined to seize all opportunities to promote peace, welfare and stability in the two countries.

Ghani called for convergence and cooperation with Iran to seriously combat all terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan and the entire region.

The Afghan president arrived in Tehran on Sunday at the head of a high-ranking delegation on a two-day visit, the first since taking office in September.

SF/KA/SS


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku