Iran Press/ Iran News: The Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi stressed that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in particular the Iranian police and border guards, are hosting more than 3 million Afghans in Iran and have welcomed their 40-year-old guests with the best facilities without any discrimination. Jobs, free education, free healthcare, and many other facilities that are widely available to Afghan guests indicate good hospitality.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday night, Mousavi answered some questions, raised by foreign media in a detailed interview regarding the drowning of a number of Afghan citizens in the joint border river.
In response to the questions, Mousavi said: "First of all, I would like to express my condolences for the loss of a number of Afghan citizens and I would like to extend my condolences to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and their families."
He stated: "From the very first hours that some news reports were presented in various media in this regard, a quick and accurate investigation of the incident was put on the agenda by the relevant institutions. Since the issue was related to the lives of human beings, especially the citizens of the brotherly and neighboring country, Afghanistan, this issue was brought to our attention with much more sensitivity and an attempt was made to examine all aspects of this incident as soon as possible and no possibility was ignored."
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman said: "Accordingly, all relevant institutions, including the political and border departments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the police, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Intelligence and the General Staff of the Armed Forces, were mobilized to obtain a comprehensive assessment and all the facts would be clarified."
On Monday a meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this purpose with the presence of informed representatives of all relevant agencies to summarize this issue.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman added: "First of all, in terms of objective facts, according to the confirmed reports received from the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran, not only such incidents have not occurred in the target date and within the claimed range, but there were no clashes between the Islamic Republic of Iran forces and Afghan nationals, let alone claims that the Afghans have been transferred to camps or inhumane treatment, but at that time, due to special weather conditions in the region, not a single Afghan citizen entered the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He added: "At the same time, due to respect for the demands of the friendly and neighborly government of Afghanistan, despite full confidence in the report of the Iranian border guards, all necessary relevant orders were issued to all relevant agencies to carefully and comprehensively review the issue. Other agencies also confirmed the border report and completely denied the incident and the alleged involvement."
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Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman went on to say: "Basically, in recent months, due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus and with the aim of keeping border guards away from the risk of Coronavirus, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no camps in the border areas and any claims such as transferring Afghan nationals to the camp or forcing them to work, and so on, is rooted in falsehood, and the very nature of these claims, which are known to have been made by those who are unaware of the new situation on the Iranian side of the border, clearly shows how fictitious the subject is."
Mousavi highlighted: "Secondly, the accusations of falsification against the border forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which are always faced with a large number of illegal Afghan passengers, by the officials or media of third governments whose usual policy is to use every opportunity to deal the Islamic Republic of Iran a blow and the sabotage of good relations between the two neighboring governments have not, of course, come as a surprise."
He added: "Certainly, the officials and people of the Afghan government pay full attention to the fact that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in particular the law enforcement and border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran host more than 3 million Afghans in Iran and without any discrimination with the best facilities. They have welcomed themselves for 40 years. Providing jobs, free education, free healthcare, and many other facilities that are widely available to Afghan guests indicate good hospitality."
"I would like to point out two very important points that have always been a problem for us and for Afghans, and may have led to a tragic incident for a number of Afghans in the past," he said. First of all, it should be noted that in the last few months alone, nearly 120,000 Afghans have entered the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran illegally, and drug traffickers, terrorists, and dissidents are entering Iran," Mousavi added.
Despite the security threats that these illegal passers-by have posed to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and although Iranian border guards, like all similar forces in other countries, have the right to deal decisively and severely with border aggressors, based on good neighborliness principles, these people have always been returned to Afghanistan without the slightest harm. We urge the friendly and brotherly government of Afghanistan to do more to control its borders."
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Mousavi continued to say: "The second issue is that the phenomenon that we have been facing in the last three years on the joint borders of Iran and Afghanistan has been the evacuation of border checkpoints on the Afghan side. It is worth noting that in the last three years, Afghan forces have apparently killed at least 54 Afghan border guards (many of them at the expense of the Iranian government in recent years) at the hands of friends and neighbors, apparently due to threats from ISIS and the Taliban."
The Head of Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign affairs said: "The border areas adjacent to the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran are completely at the disposal of terrorist forces. In other words, unfortunately, no effective control has been exercised by the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan over these border areas, creating insecurity at our borders, these areas have become a hotbed of terrorist groups and smugglers."
He added: "These groups are using this security vacuum on the Afghan side and smuggling human and narcotics from these areas into Iranian territory, while according to the border arrangements agreed between the two countries, the Afghan government is obliged to establish Border forces to secure and control their borders along the common border. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly protested against this behavior of the Afghan government."
"Another issue that needs to be considered legally and technically in relation to the accident is that in order to address such alleged incidents, a mechanism has been agreed for decades, formal, fast and efficient, between the two sides. It could have been used by the Afghan side from the outset and prevented misunderstandings as well as exploitation by third parties, but unfortunately, it has been neglected." Mousavi concluded.
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