Iran to support Afghans against foreign attempts to create instability: official

TEHRAN - Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday that Iran will support the people of Afghanistan from "possible attempts of foreign dominating powers to create insecurity and instability."

"Whatever the Afghan people want is what Iran wants, and we are hopeful and sensitive regarding the future of our dear neighbor," he said in a speech in the chamber, official parliamentary news agency ICANA reported.

In the name of the Iranian nation, Qalibaf called for the preservation of the rights of people of "all races, languages, and religions," and the establishment of universal and lasting security in Afghanistan.

The recent flight of Afghan officials which Qalibaf described as "US puppets" and the smooth deployment of the Taliban across the country, he added, are the result of the Afghan people's "widespread discontent" with 20 years of US occupation.

The events in Afghanistan, Qalibaf said, showed that the trust of some Afghan government officials in Washington to bring prosperity and security to their country was a "strategic mistake."

In 20 years of US rule, Afghanistan has made "no tangible progress" in the development of economic infrastructures and public welfare, and security, "the most basic need of a civil society," has not been guaranteed, the Iranian official said.

On Saturday night, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said in a televised speech that the solution to Afghanistan's problems lies in "the establishment of a government based on the people's vote."

The events in Afghanistan, he added, have shown that US presence anywhere does not lead to security but in fact undermines it.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Aug 28 vowed Iran's support for the people of Afghanistan, adding that Iran's policy regarding the Afghan government will depend on Kabul's approach towards Iran.