NATO chief sees need to engage Iran in solution for Afghanistan

Source: Xinhua | 02-21-2009 10:14

KRAKOW, Poland, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jaapde Hoop Scheffer said Friday that there is a need at a certain stage to engage Iran in a regional solution to Afghanistan.

"I could imagine that at a certain stage, not overnight, Iran would also be involved in a regional approach for Afghanistan," he told a press conference at an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers.

For too long, Afghanistan has been looked at in isolation, he said. Now the international community needs an even wider regional approach to the woes in Afghanistan.

But he cautioned that engagement with Iran would not mean an immediate dialogue with the Islamic Republic. He added that an Iranian role in Afghanistan is not directly linked to Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear program.

De Hoop Scheffer first raised the issue in a speech to a think tank in Brussels last month.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei