Uzbekistan Invites Iran to Afghan Peace Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Uzbekistan’s president has invited Iran to attend an upcoming conference in the city of Tashkent for talks on peace in Afghanistan.
In a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on Saturday, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov delivered a letter from Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, formally inviting Iran to take part in a conference on Afghan peace, slated for late March.
The Tashkent conference would involve foreign ministers of 21 countries as well as representatives from the United Nations and the European Union for finding ways to bring the Afghan government, the Taliban and other parties into direct peace talks.
Elsewhere in the meeting, the Uzbek foreign minister voiced the Central Asian country’s readiness to open up a new chapter in ties with Iran, calling for closer cooperation in the fight against radicalism and narcotics trafficking.
The Iranian president, for his part, highlighted the significance that Tehran attaches to the security and stability of its neighbors, particularly Afghanistan.
Stressing the need for joint efforts to counter violence and extremism, President Rouhani also urged coordination between Tehran and Tashkent to contribute to regional peace and stability.
Iran and Uzbekistan have common borders with Afghanistan, which has seen a surge of terrorist attacks in recent months.
More than 130 people have been killed in Afghanistan in four terrorist attacks over the past month.
In the deadliest attack on January 27, claimed by the Taliban, more than 100 people were killed in Kabul. It came a week after militants stormed a Kabul hotel and killed scores in a 12-hour standoff. In a separate attack on January 29, five militants targeted a military base in Kabul and killed 11 people.
