IRAN READY TO AID AFGHANSTAN

"... Iran has accepted an invitation from Italy to participate in the Group of Eight summit on Afghanistan, to be held in Trieste in June. This conference will discuss the "spillover" of conflict in Afghanistan and ways to secure the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have already begun a trilateral initiative in this regard.... An important axis of cooperation between the Islamist states of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan is on the horizon... closer cooperation between the three nations is imminent..."

"This week's landmark summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) again highlighted the increasingly important regional dimension of Tehran's foreign policy. "Iran is ready for cooperation to aid Afghanistan," the spokesperson said at the closing of the ECO meetings...."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KC13Ak03.html