Military

Kouchner, Clinton urge Iran's attendance at Afghan security confab

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Berlin, Mar 6, IRNA -- French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his American counterpart Hillary Clinton called on Iran to take part in a planned international Afghan stabilization conference, media reports said here Thursday.

Kouchner expressed hope that Iran would attend such a confab, tentatively scheduled for March 31 in Brussels.

The French minister's call was underscored by Clinton who in her maiden speech to the NATO foreign minister's meeting in Brussels stressed any long-term solution would "require the participation of all of Afghanistan’s neighbors.”

Acting US State Department spokesman, Robert A. Wood was quoted saying he expected that Iran would be invited.

The high-profile UN-convened conference which includes also Russia, India and Pakistan, is reportedly aimed at stabilizing the volatile security situation in Afghanistan.