Iran’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi has said that his country is cooperating with the Taliban regime in different sectors, particularly in the economy sector, regardless of the Taliban’s official recognition. Afghanistan is the best country for Iran for its mines and minerals, he said.
“There is no country better than Afghanistan in the mining sector for us,” the Iranian Ambassador said in an exclusive interview with Bazaar TV aired today, adding that “we can invest in this sector” as Afghanistan could provide the required iron from its iron deposits for Iran’s steel industry.
He said that Afghanistan could be a replacement for Australia, Brazil, and Latin America for providing Iran’s basic needs in agricultural items if the two neighboring countries could improve trade ties and bolster Afghanistan’s ability to an extent to export these items.
“To strengthen the trade ties between the two countries, we should have secure borders for importing and exporting goods,” the Iranian diplomat said. He added that investing in the border towns was a priority for the Islamic Republic of Iran, specifying that creating “free trade zones” could prevent the exodus of Afghan refugees and opium cultivation in Afghanistan.
Moreover, he has said that the United States has destroyed Afghanistan’s infrastructure and taken away a large number of Afghanistan’s professional workforce and experts with its withdrawal. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced that it will opt for training Afghanistan’s human capital,” the Iranian ambassador said, adding that Iran was trying to send back nearly 34,000 Afghan students with bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees to Afghanistan for contributing to their country’s development.
Interacting with the Taliban, Iran is encouraging the Afghanistan rulers to form a coalition government, Qomi said, while expressing support for intra-Afghan talks.