Iran, India could help maintain regional peace: Iranian official

TEHRAN, Dec. 25 (MNA) – The Supreme Leader’s advisor on international affairs, Ali Akbar Velayati,said that Iran and India could help improve peace and security in the region. He made the remarks in an interview with reporters a day after his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Friday. Commenting on the situation in Afghanistan, Velayati said that Iran believes that the people of the region are seeking to find a solution to the problems facing the country. Iran and India can help the Afghans determine their own destiny, but that does not mean that the Islamic Republic intends to interfere in the Afghanistan’s internal affairs, he said. On the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, he stated that U.S. officials had no other choice because another catastrophe like the Vietnam War would have taken place if they had stayed in Iraq.