Addressing the 4th Ministerial Conference of Istanbul Process on Afghanistan in the Chinese capital city of Beijing on Friday, Zarif blamed foreign political meddling for the spread of terrorism, growing extremism and drug trafficking in the region, and said, "This phenomenon is not just a threat to the people of our country and the region, but the grounds will also be paved for its spread to outside the region."
"Unfortunately, these growing threats have created improper conditions for some regional states and most of these problems find their roots outside the region," he added.
Zarif lambasted certain states for for their instrumental use of extremist groups and their emphasis on the use of pressure and military force as a danger to regional security, and called for cooperation and assistance of all the world countries to the regional nations which are entangled in problems resulted from terrorism and extremism.
In relevant remarks in Beijing yesterday, Zarif said the region is threatened by extremism and terrorism, but interference of the trans-regional powers would have even more dire repercussions.
"Extremism and violence have become major challenges facing Muslim countries as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and other Middle Eastern nations have become the scene of deadly terrorist operations almost on a daily basis," he said.
The Iranian top diplomat reiterated that the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan will eliminate one of the major causes of extremism in the region, as many regional issues have resulted from the interference of certain countries.
The Iranian foreign minister called on all the world countries to join efforts to help establish peace and security in Afghanistan.
