Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00which is Syria, the Israeli forces must withdraw to the areas
00:00:03that were under its control before December 8, 2024.
00:00:07We have reached the end of the news for this hour. Thank you for being with us.
00:00:10Have a good time. Goodbye. In the name of God, the Great and Exalted.
00:00:14Dear viewers, welcome to the program
00:01:00"Kavosh" with me, Karimullah Ebrahimi. The economic and trade
00:01:03relations between Afghanistan and Iran have been expanding
00:01:07in recent years. In the latest move, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment
00:01:10and the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture
00:01:13have agreed on a memorandum of cooperation.
00:01:17This memorandum is expected to be signed
00:01:20in Kabul simultaneously with the visit of a delegation
00:01:23from Iran. The two sides also discussed
00:01:27the expansion of trade relations, investment opportunities, and existing
00:01:30challenges in Tehran. Therefore,
00:01:34we will talk more about this topic, but before that, two questions.
00:01:38What new opportunities does this memorandum create
00:01:41for increasing trade and investment between Afghanistan and
00:01:45Iran? And finally, to implement the agreement
00:01:49and remove the existing obstacles
00:01:52that were mentioned in this discussion in Tehran for traders
00:01:56of both countries, what specific measures
00:02:00should be taken? These challenges led to great opportunities
00:02:03for both sides. We will discuss all these issues here in the program.
00:02:07Fortunately, we are joined here in the studio by Mr.
00:02:10Mohammad Tavous Farzad, an economic expert,
00:02:14who is present here in the studio. Mr. Farzad, welcome and thank you for being here.
00:02:18Do you think that cooperation in four specific
00:02:21sectors such as trade, industries, mines, and agriculture,
00:02:25which was the main topic of discussion between the two sides in Tehran,
00:02:28how much can it affect both sides from an economic perspective?
00:02:32In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Hello, Mr. Ebrahimi,
00:02:35and the technical team.
00:02:39Good time to you, viewers. You see, Mr. Ebrahimi,
00:02:43when Afghanistan's trade with Pakistan
00:02:46was closed. This means
00:02:49that the wrong policies that Pakistan adopted,
00:02:52whenever they had a political issue with Afghanistan, they would
00:02:55put pressure on trade.
00:02:57They would put pressure on immigrants,
00:03:00and finally, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan decided
00:03:04to find alternative ways for Afghanistan's trade,
00:03:08meaning exports and imports, to get out of
00:03:11Pakistan's economic and trade monopoly.
00:03:15The measures that were taken, trips were made to various countries.
00:03:18High-ranking officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan traveled to Central Asian countries,
00:03:22China, Russia, Gulf countries, India, various countries.
00:03:26Trips were made with Iran to find alternative
00:03:30ways for trade instead of Pakistan.
00:03:33Fortunately, currently, you see
00:03:37that the roads with Pakistan have been closed for months.
00:03:40But fortunately, we do not feel any shortage in the Afghan market.
00:03:44Our trade went to Iran, and a large part of Afghanistan's
00:03:47trade is currently with Iran, which is said to be about
00:03:5035 billion dollars.
00:03:53That is the trade relationship between Afghanistan
00:03:57and Iran. Also, our trade with Central Asia
00:04:02is currently expanding and growing. You know
00:04:06that Central Asian countries have abundant natural resources
00:04:10and good resources for Afghanistan to have
00:04:13exports and imports with them. It can be a very good market
00:04:16for Afghanistan. Also, very effective measures
00:04:19were taken to find alternative ways
00:04:23for Afghanistan's trade, and fortunately, currently,
00:04:26as I said, Afghanistan is not facing any trade problems,
00:04:30and we are witnessing that Afghanistan
00:04:34is full of various goods
00:04:37and commodities, and there are no problems.
00:04:40Also, currently, a positive competition
00:04:44is underway in Afghanistan. You know that Iran is trying
00:04:48to reach Afghanistan, and Central Asian countries.
00:04:51Do you think what caused such
00:04:55diversity of views? What we are witnessing is that at least in the previous administration,
00:04:58such a view from countries and their way of interaction
00:05:01with Afghanistan was not the case. Mr. Ebrahim, you see,
00:05:05in the previous administration or during the republic,
00:05:09America was somehow dominant in Afghanistan, and they did not allow
00:11:25Afghanistan to have good political and economic relations
00:11:29with both Iran and Central Asian countries that are somehow
00:11:32under Russia's influence. This clearly
00:11:34caused Afghanistan's economic and political issues
00:11:38with Central Asian countries as well as with Iran
00:11:41to be somewhat diminished. When the Islamic
00:11:44Emirate of Afghanistan came to power and a victory occurred here,
00:11:48these countries took advantage of this opportunity to come to Afghanistan
00:11:52and achieve their economic goals
00:11:55in Afghanistan and through Afghanistan to other countries as well.
00:11:58You know that currently for Central Asian countries
00:12:02and for Iran, a second good opportunity
00:12:06that has arisen is that the ways that we were connected
00:12:09with Pakistan or our trade with Pakistan
00:12:13has been blocked or stopped with Pakistan. They have also
00:12:17used that point that currently they have
00:12:20a good and friendly competition with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,
00:12:24and in addition to this, this path that was closed with Pakistan
00:12:27they considered it an opportunity for Central Asian countries,
00:12:31Iran, and other countries
00:12:35to use. We currently Afghanistan
00:12:39does not need countries, now countries need Afghanistan.
00:12:43From this point, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should use
00:12:46it and convince Iran to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
00:12:50This means that a big trade that it currently
00:12:54has with Afghanistan,
00:13:25extensive economic relations that it has with Afghanistan,
00:13:28the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan can tell them that
00:13:32we have an extensive trade,
00:13:36extensive economic relations. The Emirate
00:13:39can more officials
00:13:43will work on it and then such an action will start.
00:13:46So far, we have not seen such a thing from Iran.
00:13:49And there should be a discussion about what prevents Iran
00:13:53from recognizing Afghanistan.
00:14:15We have a vast trade, we have very good relations.
00:14:18Embassies exist in both countries.
00:14:22Economic and political relations exist.
00:14:25For example, Iran should talk about economic
00:14:28issues. Iran should talk about what obstacles
00:14:32it sees that it does not recognize Afghanistan.
00:14:35The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should also
00:14:39use these times and these opportunities.
00:14:43there should be obstacles for Afghan traders,
00:14:47why are there practically obstacles for Afghan traders
00:14:51within Iran? Mr. Ebrahimi, you see. First,
00:15:29the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should do an assessment
00:15:32of which sector Iran has a free hand
00:15:36in, or in which sector it has good experts,
00:15:39or in which sector it has good technology.
00:15:43They should see in which part
00:15:46Afghanistan can cooperate with Iran. First,
00:15:49this identification should be done to see
00:15:53in which part Iran can cooperate with Afghanistan.
00:15:57For example, if Iran has no experience in a certain sector,
00:16:01if the sector or other countries talk
00:16:04about exempting Chabahar from Iran's issues,
00:16:37for example, America should exempt Chabahar
00:16:41as a separate section so that
00:16:44investment can be made, and the facilities
00:16:47that are needed for traders, for example, bank representatives
00:16:51should be there, logistical centers
00:16:54should be there, hotels should be there,
00:16:58and other issues that you mentioned are not seen in Chabahar
00:17:01because the grounds are not seen. It is needed
00:17:04that it expands and grows,
00:17:08because day by day, we see that trade with
00:17:12Iran is expanding and growing. It is hoped
00:17:16that facilities will also be created in this regard. In the second step,
00:17:19there should be visa facilities for Afghan traders,
00:17:23and a very important point is that large
00:17:27logistical centers should be built in the territory of Afghanistan
00:17:30and Iran, so that when we
00:17:34export to Iran, if there is no
00:17:37good market for our goods in Iran, we can
00:17:40store our export goods in those centers
00:17:43and send them to European countries through Iran,
00:17:47for example, to India or Turkey, to other countries.
00:17:50For this, large logistical centers
00:17:54should be allowed in Iran for Afghanistan,
00:17:57so that trade centers and logistical centers can be established
00:18:01for Afghanistan, so that they can place their export
00:18:05materials there and then export them to other countries.
00:18:08And the third issue is that a list
00:18:12of Afghanistan's export items that are to be traded with Iran
00:18:16should be identified, what we should export to Iran.
00:18:19First, both countries should talk, Mr. Ebrahimi,
00:18:23about which product Afghanistan has a suitable
00:18:27ground for in Iran or for which there is a market.
00:18:30This should be identified, and then a list
00:18:34of items that Afghanistan can export to Iran.
00:19:07The discussion of extracting fuel resources such as oil and gas,
00:19:11Iran has the most experience in what we see, yes,
00:19:14in various issues that can help Afghanistan, for example,
00:19:17in the matter of cement factories
00:19:20and also in the matter of agriculture. They can, because Iran
00:19:24has very good experience in agriculture,
00:19:27and also in the matter
00:19:31of, for example, mining. Those mines that Iran itself
00:19:35can extract, for example, oil and gas,
00:19:38they have very extensive experience in this area.
00:19:42Capabilities can be developed in the extraction of oil and gas
00:19:45in Afghanistan. However, it should not be like the Aynak
00:19:49project, which was given to the Chinese years ago.
00:19:52This Aynak project was given, but unfortunately, no practical
00:19:56work has been done on it yet. If these mines
00:19:59had been extracted 18 years ago,
00:20:03we would have gained a very large income from this project.
00:20:07But unfortunately, it has been years since China
00:20:10has not started working on this project.
00:20:14Attention should be paid to this point that Iran
00:20:18should be given the mines
00:20:20in which they specifically have experience,
00:20:23and a commitment should be obtained from them
00:20:26that they must start the work of these projects
00:20:30at the time they are told. If we give them the opportunity
00:20:34and they don't work on it, it will not be beneficial for Afghanistan.
00:20:37I think that the influence of Iran
00:20:40in giving the extraction of our mines
00:20:43should be paid much attention to,
00:20:47so that those mines
00:20:57can be extracted. And also, a very strong commitment
00:21:00should be obtained from Iran that the Iranian companies
00:21:04that come to Afghanistan must start the work of these projects
00:21:08at the time they are told. I think that somehow
00:21:11Iran wants to have influence
00:21:14in Afghanistan's mines as well. At this point,
00:21:17the cautionary points you mentioned,
00:21:20what are the cautionary points in your opinion,
00:21:24or what is the principle of economic
00:21:27recommendations that we should at least focus on
00:21:30and work seriously on? Earlier, regarding the extraction
00:21:33of oil and gas resources, you said that Iran has extensive experience
00:21:36and can be a good partner for Afghanistan, because the environment
00:21:40and geography of Afghanistan are very similar to Iran.
00:21:43And Iran, do you think that only
00:21:47economic experts for the extraction of fuel resources
00:21:51such as oil and gas should enter Afghanistan,
00:21:55Iranian experts, or that only its plan
00:21:58should be there, and all technical matters and whatever is needed
00:22:02should be carried out by Afghans within Afghanistan?
00:22:05To the extent that we can use our own capabilities,
00:22:09it is good if it is Iran's plan or program,
00:22:13but our own experts should work, just like once,
00:22:17in our insurance sector,
00:22:21foreign experts were brought in, and they were told that you
00:22:24must train Afghans so that Afghans who reach
00:22:28that level or gain capacity
00:22:31should leave Afghanistan. That was the case until
00:22:34Afghans reached that sector,
00:22:38reached that stage where they could cover
00:22:41our insurance sector. After that, they were sent away.
00:22:44We can say that the sector
00:22:47in which Iran has good experience. with his sister