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Germany invites Iran to attend conference on Afghanistan

Iran Materials 8 September 2011 01:15 (UTC +04:00)
Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Abdollahi says the occupation of Afghanistan by foreign forces have led to the spread of terrorism in the world, Mehrnews reported.
Germany invites Iran to attend conference on Afghanistan

Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Abdollahi says the occupation of Afghanistan by foreign forces have led to the spread of terrorism in the world, Mehrnews reported.

Abdollahi made the remarks during a meeting with Michael Steiner, Germany's representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was held in Tehran on Wednesday.

Abdollahi said that the occupation of Afghanistan has undermined security in the region, and the production of illicit drugs has increased more than tenfold since foreign forces were deployed in the country.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to the efforts that Iran have made to help improve security in the neighboring country of Afghanistan.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has so far constructed 24 border outposts for Afghanistan to help it control its borders and prevent smuggling," and this illustrates that Iran is interested in helping the Afghan people live in peace, Abdollahi stated.

He also spoke about Iran's hosting of the International Conference on Global Fight against Terrorism, which was held in Tehran from June 25 to 26 and said unfortunately the countries that claim to be in the forefront of the campaign against terrorism did not send representatives to the conference.

Steiner thanked Iran for the assistance it has provided to the people of Afghanistan, particularly its efforts to reconstruct the war-ravaged country.

Steiner also held a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Mohammad Ali Fathollahi on Wednesday, in which he invited the Islamic Republic to participate in an international conference on Afghanistan, entitled "Bonn Second", which is scheduled to be held at foreign ministerial level in Bonn late autumn.

Attending the NATO Summit in Lisbon in November 2010, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to host a follow-up conference ten years after the 2001 Bonn Conference.

More than 1,000 delegates from 90 countries are expected to attend the conference.

The conference will center on the transfer of security operations to the Afghan government by 2014.

Fathollahi said that Iran views regional solutions as the most workable approaches to help settle the protracted conflict in Afghanistan.

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