Iran to host ministerial meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbours

Tehran: Iran will host a meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan neighbouring countries to address the current situation in the war-torn nation, Tehran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi said.

“Afghanistan is passing through a critical juncture, with hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing their country and over half a million of others being internally displaced,” Ravanchi was quoted as saying on Friday by Xinhua news agency.

He added that essential food supplies in the country are running short and millions of people need humanitarian assistance.

“This situation is primarily the direct result of the intervention by the US and other foreign forces in Afghanistan and their irresponsible withdrawal,” he said in a separate address to a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.

Iran is preparing to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

Many Afghan refugees have entered the Iranian territory, the envoy said, urging “the international community to shoulder its responsibility and do more to provide assistance to these refugees”.