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Iran will keep rebuilding Afghanistan'

Iran Materials 13 June 2008 13:43 (UTC +04:00)

Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki says his country is determined to keep cooperating in Afghanistan's reconstruction plans, reported PressTV.

Iran's aid to Afghans has never been exclusive to a particular time frame, Manouchehr Mottaki said in a daylong summit on aid to Afghanistan, adding that his country keeps supporting Afghan's government through hard times.

"Iran's housing of more than two million Afghan refugees for almost three decades, which has imposed heavy costs on the country, can only be interpreted as Tehran's goodwill and good neighborliness," Mottaki said.

An international donor conference, aimed at securing aid for Afghanistan's 50-billion-dollar development program, was held in Paris on June 12 with representatives from over 80 countries.

It is also on Iran's agenda to issue 300 thousand work visas for Afghan refugees in the country to elevate their living conditions, he added.

The foreign minister said the Islamic Republic of Iran has been well cooperating in the reconstruction plans by building railroads and establishing educational and medical centers.

Mottaki called on the international bodies, in particular the UN, to speed up measures to tackle unemployment, drought and drug trafficking.

Iran endorses Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) as well as the ruling government in the country, Mottaki added.

ANDS sets out Afghanistan's priorities for development for 2008-2013 so donors can better coordinate support for this plan and improve the effectiveness of international aid, and to permit better appropriation of this aid by the Afghan people.

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