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Tehran, Dec 20, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi in an interview with Qatari TV al-Jazeera Thursday morning stressed that a broad-based government should assume power in Afghanistan but, unfortunately, the idea was opposed by Taliban.
Kharrazi said that if the militia had agreed to the idea, the present conditions would not have arisen in Afghanistan.
He said that while it is true, the United Front has reaped victory but this does not mean that it can have complete sovereignty in Afghanistan or repeat Taliban's mistakes, rather, the reason the Afghan parties attended the Bonn conference had been that they would be able to form a broad-based government so as to restore peace and stability in their country.
The foreign minister added that now, Pakistan has changed its policies and both Iran and Pakistan have a consensus on formation of a broad-based government in Afghanistan.
He said Islamabad no longer supports the Taliban -- a policy welcomed by Tehran.
He added that while in Pakistan he had raised Tehran-Islamabad cooperation on the Afghan issue because Afghanistan is a neighbor to both Pakistan and Iran.
"We should now pin our hopes on future and strive for consolidation of peace and reconciliation not only in Afghanistan but also among Afghan ethnic groups and countries neighboring Afghanistan; I believe that the time is ripe for brokering reconciliation among anti-Taliban coalition forces and Pakistan," added the Iranian Minister.
Asked whether there were any difference between Iran and Pakistan,Kharrazi said he had not come across with any specific difference of opinion and generally, "I believe that post-September 11 incident in the US has led to changes in Pakistan's stances."
He said that ongoing events have strengthened Tehran-Islamabad ties and made Pakistan adopt a positive attitude towards Iran and build sound relations with Tehran on the basis of good neighborliness with Kabul.
Kharrazi then turned to an invitation extended to President Mohammad Khatami to pay a visit to Pakistan and expressed hope that the visit would take place on an opportune time.
Asked on Iran's stance vis-a-vis the possible US' invasion on Iraq, Kharrazi said, "Naturally, we will oppose it because attack on other countries by a powerful force is not justified and no Muslim state can be found that would refuse to oppose the move." Kharrazi added that this was completely clear at the Organization of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) recent meeting in Doha.
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