Iran, Afghanistan ink 5 documents to expand economic cooperation 

Senior officials from Iran and Afghanistan signed five memorandums of
understanding (MoUs) to boost cooperation in various economic sectors.  

The documents were signed in a ceremony in Tehran on Thursday night with
Iranian Agriculture Minister Mohammad-Ali Nikbakht, President Raisi’s special
envoy for Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi, and Deputy Prime Minister for
Economic Affairs of the Taliban Government Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in
attendance. 

According to the public relations office of Iran’s Agriculture Ministry,
the MoUs include the cooperation document of Iran-Afghanistan Joint Economic
Committee meeting, the document of the two sides’ Joint International Road
Transport Cooperation Committee meeting, the MOU between Iran’s Civil Aviation
Organization (CAO) and the Afghan side, the MOU between Iran’s Esfahan Steel
Company and the Afghan side, and the MOU between Iran’s Secretariat of Free
Trade and Special Economic Zones and the Afghan sides.

Afghanistan’s delegation arrived in Iran on Saturday (November 4). Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar led the 30-member strong delegation.

Following the ceremony, Nikbakht hailed the “brotherly ties” between the
two nations, however describing the level of relations between the two Muslim
countries as “unsatisfactory”. 

“The two countries should improve their trade, economic
and cultural ties. We are ready to share our knowledge and experience with
Afghanistan in the sectors of agriculture, industry, mine, higher education,
health, and medical equipment,” he said.

The minister stressed, “All obstacles to the expansion of cooperation
between Iran and Afghanistan must be removed.”