Iran Criticizes Provocative Articles By Afghan Newspaper

Kabul, July 23, IRNA – Iranian Embassy in Kabul issued a statement on Monday strongly criticizing provocative articles published by Afghan 8 oclock daily against Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported the stability, security and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and has spared no effort to cooperate with Afghan government in this regard, the statement read. The Embassy also criticized the Afghan daily for refusing to publish Iranian Embassy's response to allegations made against Iran, a conduct which runs counter to the internationally-recognized press code. Iran is against extremist groups, such as the Taliban and acts of sabotage in Afghanistan, the Iranian Embassy said in its statement, accusing trans-regional powers of fueling the flames of war in Afghanistan by supporting the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorist groups. The statement cited the martyrdom of a number of Iranian diplomats by the extremist groups in Mazar-I-Sharif on August 8, 1998 as an evidence for the terrorists hostility with the Islamic Republic of Iran./end