Afghanistan Times
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TEHRAN: Iran’s Ambassador to Kabul Mohammad-Reza Bahrami and Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani discussed rewriting border signs and documents in Kabul.
The Afghan government plans to increase the number of its customs offices alongside borders with Iran to make more income and to fight drug trafficking from Afghanistan to narcotics kingpins in Europe through Iran.
The two sides, meantime, exchanged views on upcoming sessions of Iran-Afghanistan joint consular and border affairs commission.
Iran and Afghanistan plan to set up joint committees to follow up security, border and law enforcement issues between the two countries.
The announcement was made in a meeting of senior security officials presided by Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Brigadier General Hossein Zolfaqari in Tehran in August.
The joint Iran-Afghanistan committees will follow up security and border problems of the two countries’ nationals.
In February, Iranian and Afghan border guard officials inked a security agreement to expand their cooperation and coordination in administering border-related issues.
In a meeting between Iranian Border Guards Commander Brigadier General Qassem Rezayee and his Afghan counterpart Major General Mohammad Shafiq Fazli in the Afghan city of Nimrouz, the two sides voiced readiness to do their best to boost security and tranquility of joint borders.
General Fazli said in the meeting that Afghanistan has been engaged in a war against terrorism, Al-Qaeda and drug traffickers for more than three decades, and expressed the hope that through unity and brotherhood existing between the border guards of the two countries the enemies would be defeated in near future.
The Iranian commander, for his part, said that both Tehran and Kabul are resolved to secure joint border in a bid to pave the ground for glorifying of their trade interactions.
Iran is one of the most important donors to Afghanistan, which has kept its promises to help to the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.
Iran has built several roads, power transmission lines, border stations and many other infrastructure projects to better link the two nations.
Iran has also contributed more than $50mln annually to Afghan anti-narcotics efforts during the last five years.
Tehran has repeatedly called for a withdrawal of the US-led foreign troops from Afghanistan, stressing that establishment of peace and security in the war-ravaged country is possible only through cooperation among the regional states. (FNA)
