Afghan conflict has no military solution: Iran

Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran says there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and the continuation of foreign military presence in the country will further complicate the situation.

According to press TV, spokesman Bahram Qassemi said in his weekly press briefing on Monday that all of Afghanistan’s neighbors had to strive toward facilitating stability in the country.

He said countries interested in seeing calm in Afghanistan had to reduce their meddling there and allow the Afghan people to determine their own fate through dialog.

Qassemi was asked about the recent publication of documents showing that Saudi Arabia may have been involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Without naming Saudi Arabia, he said the 9/11 matter was clear and “a certain country” was accused of involvement in the attacks. He said he hoped that justice would be served and that no such attacks would ever occur again.

‘Iran will react to violation of JCPOA’

Qassemi also said that the Islamic Republic would react to the violation of a 2015 multilateral nuclear deal.

“In case a country for whatever reason fails to meet its commitments [under the deal], it will have to pay the heavy price of non-performance. It doesn’t matter what country it is [that non-performs],” he said.

“As previously said, Iran will not initiate a violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but of course will react as necessary to violations by any other country and will not tolerate the JCPOA’s breach,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, using an official abbreviation to refer to the deal.

He explained, however, that any decision on whether non-performance had occurred was to be made by the Iranian high-level Supervisory Board.

Qassemi said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would not allow third parties to determine what the agency has to do.

‘Zarif to travel to New York’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Qassemi said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had now been scheduled to travel to New York for an annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Asked about whether Zarif would meet with P5+1 foreign ministers, Qassemi said the Foreign Ministry was currently planning meetings that are necessary.

‘Iranophobia worn-out tactic’

A reporter asked Qassemi about the recent anti-Iran remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He replied that Iranophobia had turned into a worn-out tactic and was being used as a tool for the pursuance of political goals by certain countries in the region.

Iranian influence in the region is an obvious and natural thing, he said.

SS