Turkey, Ankara, April 1 /Trend News, A.Alaskarov/
Iran took part in an international conference on Afghanistan only through the Netherlands, a press release on the basis of this international conference in the Hague said.
The document states that Iran's participation in the conference was held thanks to the Netherlands. "Tehran agreed to participate only after it became known that the Netherlands is the host side," says the press release referring to the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs Maxim Ferhahen.
Initially, the Islamic republic did not intend to take part in the conference. However, having ascertained that the Netherlands played a crucial role, Iran decided to send a delegation to the Hague.
The Netherlands has always stood for the two vectors of policy on Iran - on the one hand, they called for dialogue with the Iranian authorities, on the other - required to support UN sanctions against Tehran's nuclear program.
The forum was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN special representative in Afghanistan, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide.
A total of 1,900 people attended the conference to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, including ministers of Foreign Affairs and representatives from 72 states and 20 international organizations, as well as the UN, European Union, NATO, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, non-governmental humanitarian organization. Out of the 73 invited countries, only Uzbekistan has refused to participate in the conference.
The Hague conference lasted seven hours. A joint statement was signed in the conference.
