Iran to Attend Conference on Afghanistan
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Dave Schuler | Thursday, March 26, 2009 |
The BBC is reporting that Iran will attend the international conference on Afghanistan to be held next week:
Iran has agreed to attend a US-backed international conference on Afghanistan next week, but Washington played down the prospect of a high-profile meeting.
While US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also due to attend, the state department said she had no plans for a “substantive” meeting with Iran.
Iran’s foreign ministry said it had not yet decided whom it would send to the one-day conference at The Hague.
Both countries have an interest in a stable Afghanistan.
“We will participate in the Afghanistan meeting,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi Ghashghavi.
“At what level, I don’t know yet, but we will participate.”
Iran has a number of different interests in Afghanistan. The country has a serious problem with drug addiction, fueled at least in part by cheap opium coming across the border with Afghanistan.
Starting with an area on which there’s likely to be agreement is good. One step at a time.
About the Author: Over the years Dave Schuler has worked as a martial arts instructor, a handyman, a musician, a cook, and a translator. He's owned his own company for the last thirty years and has a post-graduate degree in his field. He comes from a family of politicians, teachers, and vaudeville entertainers. All-in-all a pretty good preparation for blogging.
He has contributed to OTB since November 2006 but mostly writes at his own blog, The Glittering Eye.
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