Iranian official says U.S Afghan bases pose serious threat to region

TEHRAN, Nov. 29 (MNA) – An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said the United States’ military bases in Afghanistan are a serious threat to security in the region. “In recent years, the security doctrine of the U.S. has been focused on the establishment of permanent military bases across Afghanistan,” Mohsen Pak-Aeen, director of the Foreign Ministry department for Afghan affairs, told on Monday. “We believe that the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is the main reason behind insecurity in the country, and we cannot expect stability to be established until all the foreign forces withdraw from the country,” he said. Pak-Aeen also said, “In 2001, the U.S. and its allies invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of eliminating the Taliban militia and al-Qaeda network, however, after ten years, the terrorist groups not only were not eliminated but insecurity has increased in the country.” He also commented on the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Afghanistan and said the establishment of U.S. permanent military bases in Afghanistan, which is one of the key points included in the document, is indicative of the fact that the U.S. is pursuing extra-regional objectives and intend to compensate for its failures in the Middle East region. The Afghan assembly of elders, known as a loya jirga, at a four-day meeting that ended on November 19 backed President Hamid Karzai’s desire for a long-term security partnership with the United States. The resolution that emerged from the assembly called for Afghanistan to negotiate a strategic partnership that places strict limits on U.S. troops who might remain in the country after 2014, according to the Washington Post. The assembly said it was against a long-term U.S. presence in Afghanistan, and that an agreement should not last longer than 10 years but could be renewed. Any pact with the United States should be ratified by parliament, the resolution said. The Afghan and U.S. governments have already written several drafts of partnership documents during months of negotiations but have not reached an agreement. The United States wants access to military bases in Afghanistan for the decade after 2014.