News - Middle East: Iran’s interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has deplored the seizure of Afghanistan's national assets, arguing that Washington is hampering the progress of the country and exacerbating humanitarian situation despite having withdrawn its military forces in August 2021.

Bagheri Kani made the remarks on Saturday in a message addressed to the second meeting of the Regional Contact Group on Afghanistan, which is underway in the Iranian capital Tehran and also hosts representatives from China, Russia and Pakistan.

“Some three years have passed from the time when occupation forces pulled out of Afghanistan, and our neighboring country has faced various challenges since then. The acting government in Afghanistan has made achievements on some of those challenges; but problems have persisted in other spheres,” the top Iranian diplomat noted.

He blamed the US occupation for the ongoing problems in Afghanistan, arguing that occupation and the occupiers’ disregard for economic growth constitute the root cause of many problems and challenges in the country.

“Even though the occupiers have withdrawn from Afghanistan's soil, they are actually putting obstacle in the way of the country’s progress through freezing the assets of the Afghan nation,” Bagheri Kani noted.

The top Iranian diplomat also denounced the occupiers over destruction of Afghanistan’s economic infrastructure during their presence there, stating that they left behind a devastated country for its people after their pullout.