Iran Press/Iran news: In a television interview on Saturday deputy foreign minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi expressed concern about the misinterpretation of his earlier remarks about Afghan migrants living in Iran.
Araghchi said: "My earlier comments have been misconstrued. I never meant to say and I did not say that if sanctions on Iran are tightened, then we have no choice but to deport our Afghan brothers and sisters living in this country," Iran Press reported.
He noted: "This is certainly not what I meant. There are no plans to deport Afghans from Iran. There are no such discussions going on in the foreign ministry. But what I did say was that those who have created problems for the Afghan people, meaning Western countries and European countries, must not shirk away from their responsibilities, and they should help the Afghan people."
Araghchi pointedly added: "My earlier comments were directed at Western countries and European countries, they were not directed at Afghanistan and the Afghan people."
Addressing Western countries Araghchi said: "We have helped Afghan refugees as much as we could, and we shall continue to help them in the future. Afghan migrants will continue to live in Iran and we have no problems with that. But the point is America and the Europeans have imposed sanctions on Iran, and they are pressuring us economically. Yet they seem to have forgotten their responsibilities vis-a-vis Afghanistan."
Iran's deputy foreign minister added: "The Afghan refugee problem has come about because Western countries, especially United States, has aided and abetted terrorists in Afghanistan. They have created terror groups in Afghanistan and supported them. They have set up military bases in the country. They have occupied the country for decades. They have fuelled a war which has raged on for decades. They have created the Afghan refugee problem. Despite this, they expect Iran to pay for the Afghan refugees, a problem they created."
"Western countries cannot expect Iran to shoulder the cost of Afghan refugees, while they sanction Iran and try to reduce our oil exports to zero. Western countries must shoulder their responsibilities vis-a-vis Afghanistan," Iran's deputy foreign minister said. 101/211
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