Hanif Atmar meets his Iranian counterpart

The Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawad Zarif on Sunday in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

Referring to the deaths of the Afghan refugees in Iran and at the border of the two countries, Atmar leading a 45-member delegation in Tehran to discuss the “recent unfortunate events and find solutions to avoid them happening again.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that strengthening the development of bilateral cooperation, taking care of the Afghan refugees in Iran, and programs of the working committees were the main topics of discussion between the diplomats of Afghanistan and Iran.

However, the Iranians believe that burning the Afghan refugees’ car in Yazd was just a traffic accident, and what happened on the Afghan refugees in Yazd is also happening to the citizens of Iran saying that the purpose of the delegation’s visit is to completely investigate these incidents.

Meanwhile, the assistant of Iranian Foreign Minister said that both laterals discussed the incidents that occurred between the citizens of the two countries, some diplomacy matters, and investigating the details of the recent incidents of Afghan refugees in Iran.

The Afghan fact-finding committee, investigating the case in which Afghan refugees were thrown to water by the Iranian border guards, is urging the acting foreign minister not to be influenced by Iran’s policies, but to discuss the issue comprehensively with officials.

The Human Rights Commission also called on the delegation led by Atmar to seriously follow up on the incidents and resolve the dispute, apart from political issues with Tehran.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the statement of Shokrullah Bahrami, head of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces of Iran, who said that the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran had no involvement in the deaths of Afghan citizens on the border between the two countries “unexpected”.