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Mashhad, Khorassan Razavi Prov. Jan 27, IRNA -- President Mohammad
Khatami said in this northeastern province on Thursday that Tehran
called for a powerful, stable and free Afghanistan.
photo: ISNA
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a 123-km road which links
Iran's Dogharoun region to the western province of Herat in
Afghanistan, the president said that opening of Dogharoun-Herat road
was a symbol of Tehran-Kabul cooperation which can further broaden in
all political, economic, cultural and scientific fields.
President Khatami and his visiting Afghan counterpart Hamid
Karzai arrived in Mashhad Thursday morning and later left for the
provincial city of Taibad near the border with Afghanistan to attend
the inaugural ceremony.
The road has been built by Iranian experts and as part of Iran's
assistance for reconstruction of Afghanistan in the post-war era.
During a meeting of donor countries on Afghanistan held in Tokyo,
Japan in 2002, Iran pledged to provide a dlrs 560 million aid package
r implementation of reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
Stressing that presently the fate of the two countries were
linked together, President Khatami said "Iran and Afghanistan would
benefit from each other's stability so much so that Iran cannot be
safe while there instability in Afghanistan and similarly we cannot
also have a developed Afghanistan while Iran is underdeveloped."
Khatami expressed hope that Tehran and Kabul would promote their
relations from present limited level of border relations to broader
level of having ties with other southern and eastern parts of
that country.
The Iranian president also said that Tehran was studying more
than 30 road building projects in Iran to expand transit of goods
to Afghanistan and the Central Asia.
He added that one of the projects which is presently underway in
Iran was in the major port city of Chahbahar in southeast Iran.
According to the president, Chahbahar could link Afghanistan and the
Central Asia to the open seas.
Referring to the Afghan president's two-day official visit to
Iran, beginning on Wednesday, President Khatami said that Karzai's
visit was a sign of growing Tehran-Kabul relations.
Meanwhile, the Afghan president said for his part that during the
past 30 years Iran has always been stood by the side of Afghanistan
supporting the country during its hard days and helping it restore
peace and stability during its post-war era.
"The Afghan nation will keep in mind the golden memory of Iran's
cooperation," President Karzai stressed, recalling Tehran's
"financial and spiritual support for Kabul during the past three
years."
He also stressed that restoration of peace and stability would
serve Afghanistan's neighbors and the entire region as well.
President Karzai thanked the people and government of Iran on
behalf of the Afghan nation.
It was also learned that the two presidents signed a declaration
on good-neighboring relations on the sidelines of the inauguration
of Dogharoun-Herat road.
A number of foreign diplomats based in Iran were also present in
the ceremony including consuls of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and kyrgyzstan as well as UNHCR
representative in Mashhad.
The above article comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
... Payvand News - 1/27/05 ... --
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