Iran Courts the US's Allies (HONG KONG)

As the prospect of much-discussed dialogue between the United States and Iran on Afghanistan languishes ahead of Iran's June 12 presidential elections, Tehran is not wasting any time in deepening its ties with Pakistan and Afghanistan. A trilateral mini-summit in Tehran over the weekend brought the leaders of the countries together and culminated in a comprehensive "Tehran declaration".

It could be termed an anti-extremism summit, as the primary focus of the Tehran talks was regional coordination in the fight against terrorism and extremism. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told the visiting Afghan and Pakistani presidents, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, that "we [Iran] strongly support trilateral cooperation".

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