Iran’s SNSC Chief Calls for Joint Neighborly Action to Protect Region against Destabilizing Factors
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s top security official said certain countries in the region and beyond are transferring Takfiri terrorists to Afghanistan, calling for joint neighborly action to protect the region against destabilizing factors.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), in an address to the 4th Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Friday, said Tehran is in possession of “worrying” evidence that some regional and extra-regional countries have been transferring Takfiri terrorists to Afghanistan.
Regional states, he said, should take joint deterrent action against the formation of “cells of insecurity and instability” in Afghanistan and the broader region.
Shamkhani blamed the United States’ “wrong expansionist policies” for the catastrophic wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine, saying Washington should not only unfreeze Afghanistan’s funds but also compensate for the damage it inflicted on the country.
Iran believes the security of regional countries is intertwined and thus Afghanistan’s peace is a necessity for all neighbors in the region, he stated.
The top security official also pointed to the influx of Afghan refugees to Iran in the course of the US-led invasion of the country and beyond, saying Iran has been grappling with many problems in hosting the Afghan refugees under cruel sanctions and in the absence of international assistance
Referring to Iran’s efforts to boost security in its neighboring country, the SNSC secretary said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always called for the establishment of security, peace, and stability in Afghanistan and deems it necessary for the development and welfare of Afghans and other nations in the region.”
He said Iran has been hosting about five million Afghans in recent years, and this issue has created a host of issues for the country due to the absence of effective international aid and the existence of cruel sanctions.
The SNSC secretary said discrimination and deprivation of rights in various fields are among the main factors that allow terrorist groups to abuse the situation in Afghanistan. The establishment of a broad-based government in Afghanistan, he said, would promote stability.
