The Afghan Minister of Justice Dr Abdul Basir Anwar said that Iran is interfering in the internal affairs of his country and is seeking to prevent the development and growth of its infrastructure by taking advantage of the instability in Afghanistan. Anwar said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat during his visit to Riyadh that Iran “is still, unfortunately, interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan in order to (prolong) the instability”. He also said that drug dealers do not seek to stabilise Afghanistan and want to work illegally.

Anwar stressed that the government of President Ashraf Ghani has developed new foundations for the national reconciliation commission in charge of talking to the opposition. The committee was formed with new policies and a new framework and has many dimensions. The reconciliation aims to provide a peaceful solution.

Anwar explained that he had met his Saudi counterpart Dr Walid bin Mohammed Al-Samaani in Riyadh and that there is joint collaboration between the ministries of justice of the two countries. He added that Afghanistan wanted to sign a joint cooperation agreement between the two ministries because the laws in Saudi Arabia are derived from the Quran and Sunnah and the Afghan courts aspire to this. The Afghan Minister of Justice also said that his country looks forward to sending judges to become qualified at the Institute of Higher Judiciary in Riyadh.

The Afghan minister also said that the agreement includes nine articles; amongst them is an exchange between the two countries, with regards to the judiciary, of delegations’ visits, experiences and training courses to equip Afghan employees of the judiciary at the Ministry of Justice with qualifications in the framework of the existing possibilities.