Kabul, August 16

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday called for national reconciliation in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The official IRNA news agency quoted Raisi as saying Iran will support efforts to restore stability in Afghanistan as a first priority.

He called Iran “a brother and neighbouring nation” to Afghanistan. He also described the Americans’ rapid pull out as a “military failure” that should “turn to an opportunity for restoring life, security and stable peace”.      

Iran shares nearly 600 miles of borders with Afghanistan and is home to about 8,00,000 registered Afghan refugees and more than two million undocumented Afghans. The influx began after Soviet forces entered Afghanistan in 1979. AP