Russia and Iran call on the authorities in Afghanistan for an uncompromising fight against terrorism and intend to coordinate efforts for an Afghan settlement, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"Afghanistan must stop being a source of regional and global instability. We call on the new Afghan authorities to uncompromisingly fight terrorist groups as well as illegal drug and weapons trafficking," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.
He said the two sides discussed prospects for regional and international cooperation to help post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan. "Both the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran have relevant initiatives in this regard. We talked today about how best to coordinate efforts to implement them," Lavrov added.
In early August, the Taliban (a terrorist movement banned in Russia) stepped up their attack on the government forces of Afghanistan, entered Kabul on August 15, and the next day announced that the war was over. For the last two weeks of August, there was a mass evacuation of the citizens of the Western countries and the Afghans who cooperated with them from the airport of Kabul which was under the protection of the American military. On the night of August 31, the US military left Kabul airport, ending nearly 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan. In early September the provisional government of Afghanistan was announced, headed by Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who had held the position of foreign minister during the first Taliban rule and who has been under UN sanctions since 2001.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from RIA Novosti