By IANS,
Bonn : Iran does not want any form of foreign military on the soil of its neighbour Afghanistan after the scheduled pullout in 2014, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said.
“Certain Western countries seek to extend their military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 by maintaining their military bases there. We deem such an approach contradictory to the efforts toward sustaining stability and security in Afghanistan,” Xinhua quoted Salehi as saying at the ongoing international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn.
“We believe that any international or regional initiative to restore peace and security in Afghanistan could only be successful if they give up the presence of foreign military forces and especially, the founding of foreign military bases in Afghanistan,” he said.
It has been widely speculated that the Taliban still pose a great threat, and the situation could deteriorate after the pullout of foreign troops by the end of 2014.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged to continue support for the Afghans, saying the international community has “much to lose if the country again becomes a source of terrorism and instability”.