NOURNEWS - Relations between Iran and Afghanistan, as two old neighbors, have always been important for both countries because of their common cultural, political and economic interests. In recent years, these cooperation has increased and the two countries have agreed to strengthen the structure of bilateral relations by preparing and signing a comprehensive document on joint cooperation.
Nearly five years have passed since the start of negotiations between Iran and Afghanistan to reach a comprehensive document, and the talks, which were expected to be finalized within six months, are still moving forward.
The political, economic, security, cultural and social committees tasked with reviewing the provisions of the document have so far held several meetings with senior officials from the two countries, but there are still issues on the agenda of the two committees that are being discussed.
Today, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar headed a 45-member delegation, including the Minister of Labor and a number of senior deputies and senior managers of the Afghan intelligence and security services, to Iran to meet with the foreign minister and some Iranian political and security officials.
The subject of this meeting is the future design of relations and the study of issues between the two countries and issues related to the comprehensive cooperation document between Iran and Afghanistan.
According to a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, although the meeting is aimed at negotiating bilateral relations, developing and deepening relations, especially in the field of economy, it is possible that on the sidelines of the visit there will be discussions about the events in Harirod and Yazd.
What distinguishes this trip from other political meetings is the recent events that have led to challenges in relations between Iran and Afghanistan.
The first incident was the killing of a number of Afghan illegal immigrants in the Harirod River, and then the accident and death of a number of other illegal immigrants in Yazd, which had widespread and serious repercussions in various domestic and foreign media with the support of the opposition.
The incidents have led to some unprofessional stances by Afghan political officials, and despite Iran's readiness to consider a joint committee, the Afghan side, along with the continuation of media coverage, has refused to participate effectively.
However, teams were selected by Iran to investigate the matter, and by examining the above incidents, they presented the results of their work to the media in public.
This action of Iran showed that the responsible institutions of our country do not hesitate to carefully and impartially investigate the above events and explicitly announce the results, and at the same time will not allow media creations that are pursued with special political approaches by the ill-wishers of the two nations.
The expert examination of the independent delegations sent by the relevant institutions to Sistan, Baluchestan and Yazd to investigate the incidents showed that there was no negligence on the part of the Iranian forces and that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations made by the Afghan side.
In recent years, it seems that the Iranophobia project has been put on the agenda by some Afghan domestic media as well as dissident Persian-language media in such a way that various issues are aimed at weakening Iran's position as a neighbor and powerful ally for Afghanistan, It is presented in the shadow of events that cannot be proven to be true.
Provocations of challenging Iran and creating Iranophobia include trying to portray the Islamic Republic's political interference in Afghanistan, creating ideological competition and inciting religious strife, supporting the Taliban as Afghanistan's enemy, and inciting Iran to sectarian strife in Afghanistan, which are followed by the filing of undocumented charges that can be easily dismissed.
What should be noted in this regard is that; Afghan political and security officials are expected to distance themselves from the emotional atmosphere created by the media and focus on the comprehensive document of cooperation that both countries emphasize, to put a double effort to resolve the issues in the relations between the two neighbors, including border issues, economic relations, border waters, the issue of immigrants, border control, etc., and not to allow the warm and historical relations between the two countries to be affected by unwanted misunderstandings.
Negotiations between Iran and Afghanistan on the issue of a comprehensive document on cooperation between the two countries are taking place at a time when Afghan officials from two of the five committees responsible for reviewing the document still have differing views on Iran. Therefore, it is necessary for the Afghan side to resolve the remaining issues in the two committees by adopting a technical rather than a political approach, and to provide the ground for the signing of a comprehensive agreement as soon as possible.
Due to their geopolitical position as well as their unique exchangeable capabilities, the two countries will not only be able to make a significant leap in the existing level of cooperation, but will also be able to become an influential axis in the region's political, economic and security developments.
NOURNEWS