TEHRAN, Feb 26: Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai wound up a sensitive visit to Iran on Tuesday by rejecting US charges that his country’s neighbour was interfering with his new UN-backed administration.

Karzai also signed an accord with President Mohammad Khatami to fight terrorism and drug trafficking, and not to interfere in each other’s affairs, shortly before continuing his international tour and leaving for India.

“Iran is not interfering in Afghanistan,” Karzai told reporters at the signing of the political accord outlining the basis of future ties with Tehran, in answer to a question on the US charges.

“In our fight against terrorism, and our struggle for national liberation, Iran made a highly significant contribution to help the Afghan people free themselves of terrorism and the Taliban,” he said, referring to Afghanistan’s former regime which was ousted by a US-led military coalition.

“The same applies to the United States,” said Karzai. “These two countries have expressed clearly their (bilateral) relations will not affect Afghanistan, and this is the case,” he said.

Khatami also said that Tehran, which has pledged 560 million dollars over five years to help rebuild his war-torn country, aimed “to participate actively in the reconstruction of its eastern neighbour, without any intention of interfering in its internal affairs.”

Referring to US President George W. Bush’s accusation that Iran was part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iraq and North Korea, and was seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction, Khatami said that certain US leaders lacked “realism and maturity.”

“The recent US position against Iran is mistaken and it is clear that it will have no impact on our relations with other countries, notably with friends and brothers such as Afghanistan,” he said.

“Our national, religious and brotherly duty is to reinforce and support the government in Kabul,” he said.

Under the accord signed by Karzai and Khatami, Iran and Afghanistan pledged to mount “a joint struggle against terrorism.”

The two countries also laid down the principle of “non-interfence in (each other’s) internal affairs”, and stressed their “mutual respect” and commitment to “respect the territorial integrity and independence” of their neighbour.

The agreement calls for Tehran and Kabul to fight drug production and trafficking, while initiating a joint economic commission.—AFP