Afghanistan, Iran plan cooperation pact amid tensions with US
By REUTERS
KABUL) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed on a cooperation pact with Iran on Sunday, an Afghan official said, while continuing to resist signing a long-term security agreement with the United States.Karzai struck the deal with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran in a move that will be greeted with suspicion by his US ally, which is trying to convince him to sign the security accord governing any post-2014 US presence in Afghanistan."Afghanistan agreed on a long-term friendship and cooperation pact with Iran," Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi said. "The pact will be for long-term political, security, economic and cultural cooperation, regional peace and security."He said a formal document would be prepared and signed soon.In August Afghanistan signed a strategic cooperation pact with Iran covering mainly security issues, but Faizi said the proposed new agreement would have much broader scope.
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