Tehran: Iran's foreign ministry on Tuesday asked Afghanistan not to sign a security deal with the U.S. that could keep thousands of American and allied forces in its neighboring country for another decade.
The request comes ahead of an expected visit to Iran next week by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has endorsed the deal but introduced new conditions before approving it and deferred its signature to his successor in next April's elections.
Iranian ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the “Islamic Republic of Iran does not consider the signing and approval of the pact useful for the long term expedience and interests of Afghanistan.”
She added that “we think approval and implementation of the deal will have negative effects on the trend of regional issues.”
Iran has long opposed the agreement that keeps U.S. forces in its doorstep in neighboring Afghanistan.
The two countries have about 945 kilometers (580 miles) of joint borders.
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