Iran urges Afghanistan not to sign security pact with US

Iran’s foreign ministry urged the Afghan government not to sign a security pact with the U.S. that would allow a residual force of US and coalition troops to remain in Afghanistan after NATO withdraws from the country in 2014.

The Obama administration - wary of repeating the blunder it made when it insisted that no residual U.S. force would remain in Iraq after US troops left the country in 2011 - would like to leave behind a residual force of US and coalition troops in Afghanistan post 2014. But the Iranian regime, a primary backer of the Afghan insurgency, would prefer that no such arrangement be made, despite the fact that the Iranian regime is enjoying a cozy relationship with President Obama.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran does not consider the signing and approval of the pact useful for the long term expediencies and interests of Afghanistan," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said Tuesday in her weekly press conference.