In a telephone conversation with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani on Thursday evening, President Rouhani expressed sorrow over recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and said the Kabul government has adopted a vigilant stance against terrorism in line with efforts to preserve unity and foil plots to sow discord in the region.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran wants sustainable peace, stability, and security in Afghanistan and considers them in line with (efforts to) develop its own security and in favor of regional peace and stability,” he noted.
The Afghan president, for his part, expressed condolences over the deadly earthquake in Iran’s western province of Kermanshah, saying that the two nations have always sided with each other.
Ghani further emphasized that one of the principled policies adopted by his government is to strengthen brotherly ties and unity among Shiites and Sunnis, adding that Afghanistan will never allow enemies to sow division in the country.
Back in May, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid an official visit to Afghanistan and held talks with senior officials of the country on a range of issues, including ways to boost the relations between the two countries.
President Ghani had traveled to Iran in May 2016 to sign a trilateral agreement between Iran, Afghanistan, and India on the establishment of an international transit corridor via the Iranian port city of Chabahar.
While in Tehran, Ghani met with Rouhani, during which he voiced Kabul’s willingness to cement closer regional cooperation with Tehran.