Salehi made the remark in a meeting with Afghan Minister of Urban Development Hassan Abdullahi on Tuesday.
He stressed Iran's policy of supporting the Afghan stability, security and development, and described the Islamic Republic as the most reliable, benevolent and long-standing friend of Afghanistan.
Given Iran’s benevolence for Afghanistan and its people, Tehran has actively participated and will continue to take part in regional and international conferences in support of Afghanistan, said Iran’s top diplomat.
Referring to the ‘significant’ factors that bonded the Iranian and Afghan nations, including the cultural and lingual commonalities, Salehi called for the further development of bilateral cooperation in various areas.
He also expressed Iran’s readiness to provide Afghanistan with engineering experience and expertise.
Abdullahi, for his part, appreciated Iran's support and assistance of Afghanistan, especially for hosting Afghan refugees.
He also underlined the Afghan government’s support for the expansion of all-out relations with Iran and threw his weight behind the investment of Iranian private and public sectors in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, development and infrastructural projects, in particular the housing sector.
Eleven years after the invasion of Afghanistan by US-led forces, the war-ravaged country is still grappling with insecurity despite the presence of about 130,000 US-led foreign troops.
mehr/281
