Iran, Afghan Defense Chiefs Talk

Defense Minister Amir Hatami and his Afghan counterpart, Tariq Shah Bahrami, underscored the need for expansion of bilateral security cooperation in a phone call on Sunday. Hatami echoed last week's warning by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei about the US plot to retain a foothold in the region by paving the way for the infiltration of terrorists linked to the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group into Afghanistan."Having suffered a heavy defeat in Iraq and Syria, the US is now trying to get Daesh [IS] out of the battlefield and transfer it to Afghanistan to justify its presence in Afghanistan," Hatami was quoted as saying by Fars News agency. Bahrami said, "Iran and Afghanistan and other neighbors should remain wary of their common enemy and continue their full cooperation on the fight against terrorism." The end of the territorial rule of the IS terrorist group in Iraq and Syria was officially declared late last year.