TEHRAN (Iran News) During the session, Seyed Mehdi Tabibzadeh, President of the Kerman Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, highlighted the untapped potential for trade with Afghanistan. He noted that despite Iran’s total exports to Afghanistan amounting to $2.5 billion, Kerman’s share stands at just $45 million, or 1.8 percent.

“Given Kerman’s proximity to the Afghan border, the significant Afghan migrant community here, the presence of major traders, and the availability of products suitable for the Afghan market, we should have achieved much more,” Tabibzadeh said. “We had launched several initiatives before the Taliban came to power, including trade conferences, investment meetings, visits from Afghan business leaders, and agreements to streamline logistics like deploying 100 trucks from Jiroft directly to Afghanistan.”

Tabibzadeh stressed the need to deepen trade ties not only with Afghanistan but also with neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, as well as with Gulf nations like the UAE and Oman. He also noted growing interest from local businesspeople to establish similar joint chamber offices with Pakistan and India.

Seyed Mohammadreza Torabi Mousavi, head of the executive board of the Iran–Afghanistan Joint Chamber’s Kerman office, acknowledged the difficulties faced over the past two years due to the Taliban’s rise to power, which disrupted prior commercial engagements. “Despite these challenges, we had plans last year to send a trade delegation to the Herat Exhibition. Unfortunately, just three days before the event, Iranian participation was canceled for unforeseen reasons,” he said.

Torabi Mousavi outlined a plan to restart the Kerman office’s activities, which includes identifying active traders in the Afghan market, recruiting new members, and organizing meetings with the heads and members of the joint chamber offices in Tehran and Mashhad.

During the meeting, Mohammad Ali Mohammad Mirzaeian, head of the Kerman Chamber’s Export Development Commission, pointed out that Kerman hosts a larger Afghan trading community compared to Mashhad, mainly due to its higher Afghan migrant population. “This offers an opportunity to increase membership in the joint chamber office,” he said. Mirzaeian also suggested planning for a permanent exhibition of Kerman’s export products in Afghanistan to boost trade visibility.

Amin Abdollahi Nejad, Director of Market Development and Business Climate Improvement at the Kerman Chamber, highlighted that seven Afghan provinces with a combined population of around 7.6 million are located near Kerman. He noted a 16 percent increase in Afghanistan’s imports over the past two years, mainly comprising mineral fuels, grains, medicines, machinery, and confectionery.

According to Abdollahi Nejad, Iranian exports make up $2.5 billion—or about 39 percent—of Afghanistan’s total imports. Products exported from Kerman include grains, vegetables, sugar, sweets, and clothing, though part of this trade is routed through national border customs.

He added that, based on International Trade Centre (ITC) data, Iran could significantly increase its market share in Afghanistan by focusing on products like apples, dates, and tomatoes. Furthermore, while Iran and Afghanistan already share a trade agreement under the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), signing a preferential tariff agreement could further facilitate trade.

Abdollahi Nejad proposed several measures to revitalize the joint chamber’s Kerman office, such as identifying reputable Afghan traders across Kerman province, organizing a dedicated meeting with them, hosting a conference on trade opportunities, launching a membership growth campaign, and pursuing a preferential trade agreement via the joint chamber.

The meeting also mentioned plans to establish a pavilion for the Kerman office at a joint exhibition organized by South Khorasan Chamber and Afghanistan, scheduled for September this year in Birjand.

The post Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber Office to Resume Activities in Kerman appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Joint Cooperation of Iran, Afghanistan to Become Operational appeared first on Iran News Daily.

“The US administration, which has failed in its policies in the region and across the world and has achieved no success, [now] seeks to take advantage of the peace talks in Afghanistan for election purposes,” Rouhani told the visiting head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), Abdullah Abdullah, in Tehran.

The president added that interference and presence of the United States, as an aggressive country, in Afghanistan have not been in line with the Afghan people’s demands.

He voiced Iran’s support for peace, stability and security in Afghanistan, hoping that the Afghan people would “achieve real peace after years of war”.

“It is important that people of this country attain real peace to safeguard their achievements after years of war and conflict,” Rouhani said, noting, “Political talks and intra-Afghan negotiations are the solution to this problem.”

Long-delayed direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban militant group began in the Qatari capital city of Doha on September 12 to end decades of conflict that have killed tens of thousands of people.

The intra-Afghan talks were set to take place in March but have repeatedly been delayed over a prisoner exchange agreement made as part of the United States-Taliban deal signed in February.

Under the deal with the US, the Taliban agreed to stop their attacks on foreign forces in return for the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and prisoner swap with the government.

The Afghan government was a party neither to the negotiations nor to the deal, but it has been acting in accordance with its terms, including by agreeing to free the Taliban prisoners.

Trump made the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan a promise before the 2016 presidential election. In the countdown to the November presidential election, Washington has ramped up pressure to start intra-Afghan negotiations.

Major railroad

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani pointed to a major railroad between Iran and Afghanistan that will be opened in the coming days.

He said the Khaf-Herat railway would strengthen economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Rouhani also said Iran is ready to connect its gas and oil products pipelines to Afghanistan to enable it neighbor to use such energies.

For his part, Abdullah commended Iran’s support for his country and its efforts to contribute to the establishment of sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan and said Tehran is a good friend and neighbor for Kabul.

The HCNR chief said he had “good meetings” in Tehran and will take the message of Iranian support to Kabul.

US destructive policies

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani also met with Abdullah on Monday. Shamkhani told him that the US pursues a policy of fomenting chaos and insecurity in Afghanistan.

“The US policy is based upon creating chaos and insecurity, no matter where it is pursued, in Afghanistan or in Iraq,” Shamkhani said.

He said Washington’s destructive policies in the West Asia region have brought about nothing but wars, devastation and underdevelopment.

Shamkhani called for intra-Afghan talks in order to establish sustainable security in Afghanistan

“The US has always sought to undermine the main components of stability in Afghanistan in order to continue its presence and drag out insecurity,” he said .

Abdullah, for his part, expressed gratitude to Iran for supporting Afghanistan, saying promotion of ties with Tehran is a main priority in Kabul’s foreign policy agenda.

Washington invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban-run government in 2001 on the pretext of fighting terrorism following the September 11 attacks in New York.

Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the US and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.

American forces have since remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now, Trump.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with unknown numbers of Afghan troops and Taliban militants. More than 100,000 Afghans have been killed or injured since 2009 when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.

Press TV and Tasnim contributed to this story.

The post Trump Using Afghan Peace Talks to Win Election: Rouhani appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Iran Ready to Supply Afghanistan with Gas, Oil Products appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Parliament Speaker Voices Iran’s Support for Afghanistan’s Constitution appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Abdullah Abdullah in Iran for Talks appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Iran, Afghanistan Seek Further Cooperation in Joint Projects appeared first on Iran News Daily.

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian exchanged views with Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mohammad Hanif Atmar on the permanent transmission of electricity to Afghanistan.

The post Iran Discussing Ways to Permanent Supply of Afghanistan Electricity appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Khaf-Herat Railway to Be Operational in Coming Unity Week appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Envoy Urges US to Study Iran’s Positions on Regional Issues appeared first on Iran News Daily.