A number of visiting Iranian officials have met with officials of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation in Kabul to discuss the expansion of transport and transit services.

Iranian officials say they are seeking to expand economic ties between the two countries and want to cooperate with Afghanistan in agriculture, livestock farming, mining and transit.

Hossein Noorizada, deputy governor of Iran’s Korasan Razavi province, said that Afghanistan has high quality agricultural products, and Iran is ready to help such products reach foreign markets.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Investment said that Iran is an important economic partner of Afghanistan and there is great potential to expand economic and trade relations and the two countries should do more in this regard.

"We have the same agriculture as you (Iran) have," said Khan Jan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment. “But we must be given the opportunity to enter a major country that is both your friend and our friend. We should be able to get our fruits and vegetables to India.”

Recently, Iranian investors have become interested in investing in Afghanistan, especially in the agriculture and mining sectors.

Local officials in Panjshir laid the foundation stone of the new prison in the province on Monday.

Mohammad Agha Hakim, the governor of Panjshir, said at a ceremony that the prison would be built on 11 acres of land at a cost of 12.9 million afghanis. It is being built in Baharak area of the provincial capital Bazarak, the provincial Directorate of Information and Culture said in a statement.

He said that initially, the boundary walls, security towers and water supply system of the prison will be built and later next year, other fundamental facilities will be constructed.

The prison will have a capacity to house thousands of inmates.

Iran has stepped up efforts to deport Afghan migrants and said that by the end of March next year, two million undocumented migrants will be “expelled” from the country. 

According to Iranian media reports, Ahmad Reza Radan, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s law enforcement, stated that “over 750,000 illegal migrants” have already been deported from Iran, and this number will total two million by the end of the current solar year.

Radan said: “This year alone, over 500,000 illegal migrants have been arrested and deported from Iran, and as a result, 250,000 others have voluntarily turned themselves in and left the country.”

The mass deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran has raised concerns among human rights organizations, and as tensions between Iran and Afghanistan continue to rise over this issue, international bodies are urging both governments to engage in dialogue and find a solution that ensures the safety and dignity of Afghan migrants while addressing Iran’s concerns over illegal immigration.