Afghanistan wants more economic engagement with Iran

Addressing a meeting on Iran-Afghanistan relations on Tuesday, Raghi said good cooperation is underway between Iran and Afghanistan in the economic domain, but it is not satisfactory.

He said Afghan refugees in Iran enjoy macro capacities for expansion of relations and presence of at least 2.5 million Afghan refugees and immigrants in Iran are influential in economic, scientific, cultural and social exchanges.

Raghi said immigrants are cheap labor force for Iran and have been contributing to construction of the country.

He noted immigrants are political and economic bargaining tools for Iran, resulting in stabilization and growing power of Iran and its international relations on international fora and support for and foreign investment in the country.

Raghi emphasized that attitude towards Afghan refugees should be strategic and more stable and both countries should benefit from the opportunity.

Common borders of Iran and Afghanistan can serve as an opportunity and pose challenges, he said, adding that for the time being, there are no conflict between the two countries, but sometimes trafficking occurs and if it is not dealt with, problems and challenges will arise.

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