Tehran: Iran on Wednesday said it will not attend an international meeting on Afghanistan being held in London, saying it will be a failure.
"Iran does not consider this meeting to be purposeful and useful and so it will not participate in it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.
"We do not think this meeting will be successful in solving Afghanistan`s problems because of its position of increasing the military presence there and showing disregard to the roots of the problems."
Yesterday, Mehmanparast said a regional approach was needed to resolve the problem in Afghanistan, where "terrorist activities" have expanded.
Thursday’s conference in London aims at focusing on how NATO-led troops can hand over security to local forces in Afghanistan.
Foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are expected to press Afghan President Hamid Karzai to do more to tackle corruption in return for continued Western support against Taliban insurgents.
Iran has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US-led forces from neighbouring Afghanistan, saying it was increasing the turmoil in the region.
PTI
