Call for Enhancing Int'l Trade With Afghanistan

Iran's diplomatic mission to the United Nations urged the international community to enhance its economic ties with Afghanistan for alleviating the country's woes.

Iran's Ambassador to the UN Gholamali Khoshrou said on Monday the Afghan government is simultaneously tackling economic complications and fighting against Taliban and the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.

"Iran believes it is incumbent upon the international community to assist the Afghan National Unity Government on both fronts," Khoshrou said during a debate at the UN Security Council on the situation in the South Asian country, Press TV reported.

"The development of economic relations between Afghanistan and the rest of the world is both an international obligation and an effectual approach toward ensuring peace, stability and security in the county."

Khoshrou noted that Tehran has always taken steps to that effect, such as completing or helping complete infrastructural projects like the Chabahar Port project in southern Iran. In May, Iran, India and Afghanistan signed a key trilateral deal, known as the Chabahar Agreement, to establish a strategic transit and transport route connecting the three countries, centering on the port city. Another project pertained to the establishment of the railroad linking Khaf County in Iran's North Khorasan Province to the city of Herat in eastern Afghanistan.

Khoshrou asked all regional players to join such cooperative projects and said the cultivation of narcotics, which serves as a key source of income for terrorist groups and also presents a social predicament, has witnessed a 43% increase in Afghanistan. "The international community has to concentrate its efforts on reversing this trend and propounding alternatives to turn an economy that feeds warfare into a sustainable one," he said.

"Iran and Afghanistan have engaged in remarkable cooperation in the area of confronting the illicit drug trade."

Khoshrou stressed that the Islamic Republic continues to host thousands of Afghan refugees and even provides services to illegal immigrants.