Extremists' Activities in Afghanistan Threaten Entire Region: Iran's UN Envoy

"We regard the activities by all violent extremists in Afghanistan to be a security threat to Iran and to the whole region," Dehqani said in a speech at a Monday UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.

"Iran has always condemned all violent attacks committed by terrorist groups as well as any cooperation with them, since we believe this will be counterproductive to establishing peace in Afghanistan," he added.

His comments seems to be coming in reaction to recent allegations of Tehran’s support for and cooperation with the Taliban of Afghanistan, following a visit by a Taliban delegation to Iran earlier this month.

The full text of Dehqani's statements reads:

In the Name of God, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

Mr. President,

I would like to express my appreciations to you for holding this debate on the situation in Afghanistan. I would like also to thank Mr. Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), for his report. I should offer my condolences to the people and Government of Afghanistan for the losses inflicted by terrorist attacks by the Taliban against the People of Afghanistan, including the one against the Parliament today.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported peace, stability, security and socio-economic development in Afghanistan and considers the security in Afghanistan tantamount to security in its own borders. Our policy of steadfast support for the Afghan government has not and will not change. We are confident that the National Unity Government is best positioned to face major challenges to peace and development in Afghanistan and we spare no efforts in lending support to it in this respect.

The report of the Secretary-General on Afghanistan, unfortunately, is, once again, indicative of the deterioration of security situation in the country. The report is suggestive of 6 and 45 percent increase in armed attacks and violence compared to the same periods in 2014 and 2013. These figures are and should be a matter of grave concern to all of us in the region and beyond. Insecurity, instability and poverty continue to provide fertile grounds for the continued presence of such violent extremist groups as Taliban and Al Qaida and the recent emergence of Daesh and other foreign terrorist fighters in Afghanistan, as referred to by the Secretary General in his latest report.

Unfortunately, the report also indicates that the number of terrorist activities has increased. We regard the activities by all violent extremists in Afghanistan to be a security threat to Iran and to the whole region. Iran has always condemned all violent attacks committed by terrorist groups as well as any cooperation with them, since we believe this will be counterproductive to establishing peace in Afghanistan.

On bilateral cooperation, Iran hosted President Ghani on 19 and 20 April, for his first official visit and meetings with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, during which the two countries pledged greater cooperation in the areas of security information sharing, counter-narcotics, the sharing of water resources and refugees. The two presidents also underlined their determination to cooperate in fighting extremism and terrorism in the entire region through the elimination of this menace.

In the view of the Iranian Government, trade and transit are two main fields for expansion of Tehran-Kabul relations. The Railroad project between Harat and the city of khaf in Iran and Iran’s readiness to make available its port facilities in Chah Bahar to Afghanistan are two major and ongoing projects in this field. As Afghanistan is a land locked country, it is agreed that these two projects are very important. We need to move forward with these activities in the framework of the tripartite agreement between India, Afghanistan and Iran as soon as possible.

On the Counter-narcotics efforts, we are particularly concerned about the reports indicating the increase in the opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan during the recent years. It is a real warning sign for the region and beyond. This threat should be addressed by the international community very seriously. In this regard, we welcome the regional initiatives taken by countries of the region, including China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and Iran, to combat the production and transfer of the narcotics. At the same time, strong support and commitment of the international donors, Afghan authorities and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is essential to deter the menace of drug cultivation and drug trafficking. Illicit drug is not only a major social and public health challenge but also, and more importantly, a main source of income for extremist and terrorist groups. Thus, the international community should specially support the Triangular Initiative of cooperation on countering narcotics among Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. This is a useful initiative to benefit Afghanistan as well as transit and destination countries.

Afghan refugees continue to live in Iran. Voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees and undocumented Afghans needs to be supported through meeting the reasonable needs of repatriated and repatriating refugees in Afghanistan in order to help them to integrate permanently in their home country. This underscores the necessity for mobilizing more international support to ensure the success of repatriation.

We support UNAMA as well as UN agencies in their efforts to providing development and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan through a robust regional engagement. UNAMA should be further strengthened due to its unique role and multi-faceted functions vis-à-vis the important political as well as socio-economic challenges facing Afghanistan.