IRAN TO UNVEIL PLAN ON AFGAN CRISIS

Tehran is formulating a plan to help improve the deteriorating security situation in neighboring Afghanistan, Iran's Foreign Minister says.
Manouchehr Mottaki said at a one-day conference on Pakistan on Friday that Iran was devising a plan on Afghan crisis as it was worried about the current security situation in the South Asian region.
"We would not have been witnessing the current situation in Pakistan if appropriate policies had been pursued in Afghanistan over the past seven years," Mottaki said at the meeting, urging regional countries to contribute to the soon-to-be-unveiled project. Mottaki, however, did not provide any detail about the plan.
The Iranian top official also told Press TV correspondent on the sidelines of the meeting that it was time "to have a real and practical change in our approach towards Afghanistan crisis", reiterating at the same time that helping Pakistan could benefit the whole region in curbing the spread of extremism into other countries.
Iran's express of deep concern over the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan comes at a time that Islamabad and Kabul are grappling with mounting insecurity and worsening economy.

The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the Taliban and destroy the al-Qaeda following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Despite the seven-year presence of more than 65,000 US-led forces in the country, violence has claimed the lives of thousands of Afghan civilians.

According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 Afghan civilians were killed throughout 2008 in operations by foreign forces. The violence in Afghanistan has also gone beyond the borders, spreading to neighboring Pakistan.
Courtesy: Press TV