Indigenous mechanisms best way out of existing regional problems: Shamkhani

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) says the best way to overcome regional problems is to work out indigenous mechanisms through participation of all regional countries and boost cooperation among them.

Ali Shamkhani made the remarks in a Thursday meeting with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on the sidelines of the third edition of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, during which Iran’s top security official highlighted major crises engulfing the region at the present time, including terrorism, military invasion by foreign forces, occupationism and the migrant crisis.

The third edition of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan kicked off in New Delhi on Wednesday, when security chiefs of Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan gathered to discuss issues involving their common neighbor.

Initiated by Iran, the first two rounds took place in Tehran in 2018 and 2019. India was scheduled to host the meeting in 2020 but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The way out of these [critical] conditions is to put an end to the intervention of trans-regional countries, especially the United States, and to boost cooperation and collaboration among regional countries in order to adopt indigenous solutions to the crisis,” Shamkhani said.

He called for further development of cooperation between Iran and Russia, as two countries heavily targeted by US conspiracies and sanctions, with the goal of bringing about the collapse of Washington’s illegal and inhuman sanctions regime.

“The expansion of Iran-Russia relations in all fields, especially in the field of security, and continuation of the common fight against terrorism play a determining role in boosting the regional stability,” he said.

Regional cooperation ‘an inevitable path’

Making a reference to the recent developments in the neighboring Afghanistan, the senior Iranian official underlined the need for the formation of an all-inclusive government there.

“Given the ethnic and religious composition of the Afghan society, the solution to the crisis in this country is the continuation of intra-Afghan dialogue and the formation of an inclusive government based on the demographic realities in Afghanistan,” he stated.

Patrushev, for his part, referred to the third edition of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, saying the views of regional countries with regard to the common threats and ways to counter them have come closer to each other.

“Regional cooperation is not an option, but an inevitable path to the establishment of sustainable security in the region,” the Russian security chief added.

Afghanistan is facing what UN agencies have described as “one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.” Western states have cut off their aid to the country since the Taliban laid siege to Kabul three months ago, pushing desperate people to the brink of starvation.

SS