Wall Street Journal - ?18 hours ago? By JAY SOLOMON THE HAGUE -- The Obama administration held its first high-level contact with Iran's government here, marking what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said could become closer cooperation between Washington and Tehran on Afghanistan and ...
But Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh has spoken out against the planned US troop surge in Afghanistan.
MOHAMMAD MEHDI AKHUNDZADEH: The presence of foreign forces has not improved things in the country and it seems that an increase in the number of foreign forces will prove ineffective to the military expenses need to be redirected to the training of the Afghan police and army.
Birdseye view from the floor of the Hague:
“Oh yes, I saw it all said Abdul Haij of India”. Mr. Holbrooke was jostled by the crowd and wound up bumping into the Iranian official. I must say it was a most courteous exchanges of “beg you pardon”, “sorry”, and both went on their way with admonishments of “Have a good day”. "It was most enlightening to see”.
Secretary Sillary said the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, met briefly with Iranian deputy foreign minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh on the sidelines of the Hague conference.
"It did not focus on anything substantive. It was cordial, it was unplanned and they agreed to stay in touch," Clinton said.
"We feel that this is a turning point in our relationship"
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