Source:

August 6, 2010

Tehran – Foreign military powers operating in Afghanistan are to blame for the insecurity and corruption plaguing the country, Iran’s supreme leader said.

Tehran welcomed Afghan President and Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov for trilateral talks. They are the fourth such meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in two years.

Ahmadinejad during talks with his Asian counterparts blamed Western powers for interfering in regional affairs.

He said the problems facing Afghanistan could be solved through regional security cooperation.

“Afghanistan’s security crisis must be resolved by regional countries as experience has shown others (foreign powers) are incapable of solving regional issues,” he was quoted by Iran’s state-funded broadcaster Press TV as saying.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei struck a similar tone by saying Western activity in neighboring Afghanistan was the source of many of the problems in the country.

“Foreigners who came to Afghanistan with the slogan of establishing security and democracy are now targeting civilians and their presence has nothing but atrocity and corruption for the people of Afghanistan,” he was quoted in the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying.

The ruling cleric went on to say the West was only pursuing its own objectives in Afghanistan in order to satisfy its “never-ending greed.”