US Regional Bases Source Of Instability: Khazaei

Tehran, Dec 20, IRNA – US bases in region including its bases in Afghanistan, are source of instability, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to United Nations Mohammad Khazaei said on Monday. Khazaei made the remarks in a meeting with UN Security Council on Afghanistan. “US bases in Afghanistan have not helped the establishment of peace in the war-torn country and by doing spying on regional countries they have increased tensions and unrests,” the official added. Khazaei referred to the aggressive action of a recently captured US spy drone from Afghanistan borders in to Iran’s soil and arrest of a US spy who have been trained in a US base in Bagram, Afghanistan, underlining that these actions are an example of violation of international rules and regulations. “The upcoming trilateral meeting of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Islamabad can help the establishment of peace in the region including Afghanistan,” he said. Afghan deputy foreign minister Jawad Ludin, for his part, thanked Iran’s support for peace and security in Afghanistan, adding that Kabul will not allow any other country to use its soil against Tehran. Iranian revolutionary Guards, IRGC, displayed an aircraft recently that it said was a US spy drone downed last week by an 'electronic ambush,' a feat that prompted boasts of Iranian technological prowess in the face of increased hostility from the west. According to these officials, the US built up the air base in Shindand, Afghanistan, with an eye to keeping a long-term presence there to launch surveillance missions and even special spy missions into Iran if deemed necessary in the future. The RQ-170 is one of the more sensitive surveillance platforms in the CIA's fleet. RQ-170 drones have been used in stealth missions into the airspace of other nations, including Pakistan, where surveillance was conducted for months on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan before he was killed in a US raid in May. Iranian state television also on Sunday aired the confession of an Iranian-American man detained for spying for the CIA. Iran's Intelligence Ministry said Saturday it had captured a CIA spy of Iranian origin who had received training in the U.S. Army's intelligence units and spent time at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I was in a spying center in Bagram (a major U.S. base in Afghanistan) ... I went to Dubai and then ... I flew to Tehran," the arrested spy Amir Hekmati said./end