Iranian port to link Afghanistan with India: Afghan official

Iran, Afghanistan and India are going to sign a cooperation agreement in the near future which will link Afghanistan with India through the Chabahar port in southern Iran, an Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said.

Ministry spokesman Shakib Mostaghni said the conclusion of the tripartite agreement will be very beneficial, IRNA reported Monday.

Mostaghni also said that his country was trying to gain access to the Black Sea through Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

He condemned a terrorist attack on a hotel in downtown Kabul Thursday that killed nine people including journalist Sardar Ahmadi and four members of his family.

He said the attack had been planned from outside Afghan borders and dismissed the Taliban's claims of being behind the attack as "untrue".