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Meeting of deputy ministers of ECO member states held in Tehran
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has emphasized the importance of border, security, and economic cooperation, as well as combating illegal migration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling at the meeting of deputy interior ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states in Tehran.
Speaking at the ECO meeting, Pezeshkian stated that holding the event after a long pause reflects the renewed determination of the organization’s members to strengthen cooperation.
“Border and law enforcement cooperation, combating illegal migration, human trafficking, drug trafficking, various forms of terrorism, and other organized crimes are among the key areas of focus in this regard,” he added.
Representing Afghanistan at the meeting was Mohammad Ibrahim Sadr, the Deputy Minister for Security of the Ministry of Interior.
On the sidelines of the event, Sadr met with the Deputy Minister of Interior of Turkey. The two sides discussed strengthening cooperation, and the Turkish official expressed satisfaction over a 50 percent reduction in human and drug trafficking since the Islamic Emirate came to power.
Meanwhile, some analysts believe that holding this meeting could help enhance security and economic relations and assist Afghanistan in emerging from political isolation.
This comes as Kabul and Tehran have been strengthening bilateral relations.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, recently met with Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders, Ethnicities, and Tribes in Kabul. Both sides described their shared borders as “frontiers of friendship” and agreed to resume the border marker renovation project and enhance cooperation.
Meanwhile, the 30th meeting of the Helmand River Commissioners is scheduled to be held soon in Tehran.
The spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid announced on Wednesday that the security and defense forces of the Islamic Emirate will temporarily halt the “Rad al-Zulm” defensive operation on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and also at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar.
Zabiullah Mujahid said in a post on X: “The Islamic Emirate, while appreciating the goodwill of friendly and mediating countries, emphasizes that maintaining Afghanistan’s national security, territorial integrity, and the safety of Afghan lives is its national and religious duty, and it will bravely respond to any aggression in case of a threat.”
Meanwhile, Ataullah Tarar, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, also announced that Pakistan has temporarily suspended its attacks on Afghanistan for Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey.
A UN official told Reuters on Wednesday that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) estimated the number of victims of the bombing of Kabul’s Omid hospital by Pakistan at 143 dead.
However, health officials in Afghanistan had earlier reported that the attack killed more than 400 people and injured 265.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of trying to create “anarchy and weakness” in Afghanistan, following a deadly airstrike on Kabul.
In an interview with UK’s Sky News, Karzai said Islamabad’s policies were aimed at keeping Afghanistan unstable and “downtrodden,” warning that such an approach would harm both countries.
He condemned the recent strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, which Afghan officials say killed around 400 people, describing it as an “extremely unfortunate event” in the history of relations between the two neighbours.
Karzai said he personally heard the explosion, describing a “horrific sound” that shook his home and filled the surrounding area with smoke and dust.
The former leader, who governed Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, said tensions between the two countries are longstanding, claiming Pakistan has struggled to maintain stable relations with successive Afghan governments.
He urged Pakistani leaders to change course and pursue a more constructive relationship, saying past strategies of interference and destabilisation had failed and would not succeed in the future.
Fighting between the two countries has intensified since late February, when Pakistan launched airstrikes it says targeted militant infrastructure. The United Nations estimates the violence has displaced more than 100,000 people.
Pakistan has denied targeting civilians, insisting its operations were aimed at militant sites and accusing Kabul of spreading “misleading” claims to deflect from alleged cross-Durand Line threats.
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