Doha meeting needs to help Afghanistan's security, stability

Iran special envoy

TEHRAN, (MNA) – A senior Iranian diplomat has said that the upcoming UN-sponsored Doha meeting needs to focus on securing the interests of the Afghan people and government.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the special envoy of the Iranian president for Afghanistan affairs made the comments in an interview with the Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) where he said that Iran will participate in the UN-sponsored Doha meeting.

"Iran's stance in this meeting is independent and based on a deep understanding of the realities and requirements in which the interests of the people and the government of Afghanistan are secured," Kazemi Qomi said.

He said, "We strongly and openly criticize the unilateral approaches adopted by big powers and international organizations."

Referring to the massive similarities between Iran and Afghanistan's peoples, the Iranian diplomat said that Iran opposes sanctions on the country and urged the UN to take into account the humanitarian situation in the country.

"In our opinion, the view of humanitarian issues by the United Nations should not be gendered (based on gender-related issues)," he said, adding, "We are extremely frightened that this path will cause the Security Council to impose more sanctions this autumn and winter with different reasons based on Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter."

"As you will see, our stance in Doha will be based on facts and principles that are not necessarily favored by the big powers," Qomi said, adding, "... we believe that every government should independently defend the legitimate rights of its nation based on reasonable arguments and in a responsible way in accordance with international laws and rules. This policy could have been seen by the international community during our nuclear talks when we defended our nuclear rights under the NPT. Obviously, we hope that Afghanistan will succeed in the path of legitimate defense with an independent position and playing a responsible role. That way, we will be a supporter and consultant to them [Afghans]."