By IRNA,
London : It is a great disappointment that Iran is not participating in the upcoming London conference on Afghanistan as Tehran is an important regional state which has suffered a lot from instability in Afghanistan, a senior British expert of defence diplomacy said.
In an exclusive interview with IRNA, Colonel Christopher Langton, from the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, emphasised on the role the Islamic Republic could play in bringing political and economic stability in Afghanistan.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki has recently announced that Tehran will not participate in the upcoming conference in London to be held this Thursday since its considerations are not incorporated into the final statement of the conference.
The British Foreign Office spokesman has told IRNA that the plan has long been to include Iran in the Afghanistan conference, given that “Iran is a neighbour of Afghanistan and also has an interest in the development of its stability and security”.
Colonel Langton said the issue of Afghanistan is a “transnational” and not an Iranian or European problem.
“The issue of Afghanistan is so serious. Iran is an important Afghan neighbour which has done a lot and suffered a lot because of the drugs trade. So there should be really cooperation”, he said.
Langton, with 32 years of service in the British Army, said Iran is suffering more from the heroin trade in Afghanistan and could contribute a lot in the London conference.
Referring to previous conferences on Afghanistan, he said that even though the contribution of the international community has been “huge” in many areas, there remains the question of “turning that into more progress in the key areas such as security, governance and real economy”.
He further criticised that there are “poor regional coordinated efforts” about Afghanistan, urging regional countries to make their efforts in an efficient and organised way.
Asked why the Afghanistan conference is being held in a European country and not a regional state, he said London has been selected because of its facilities and logistics for the stake-holders.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman had cast doubt on the fruitfulness and end results of the London conference. Ramin Mehmanparast said the main goal of this conference is to “resolve the domestic problems of Britain and not Afghanistan.”
He said many countries which are opposed to the Afghan war believe that the London conference agenda “cannot affect Afghanistan in a positive manner”.
There are other criticisms which accuse the British government of trying to exploit the conference as an opportunity for party and political purposes, as the popularity of the Labour Party has sharply declined and there are increasing opposition to the war in Afghanistan.
More than 70 per cent of the British public opinion, according to the latest surveys, believe that the continuation of the war in Afghanistan is not “acceptable” and the British government should withdraw troops from Afghanistan “by the end of this year”.
The British Foreign Office has denied the accusations.