Afghan President Hamid Karzai left Saturday on a visit to Tehran, where he will meet his Iranian counterpart following a row over fuel imports and attend a ceremony to mark the Persian new year. A statement from Karzai's office said he would meet Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and spiritual leader Ali Khomeini, and attend a festival to mark the Persian new year, Nowruz.
The visit comes after Iran earlier this year prevented the passage of trucks carrying fuel supplies to neighbouring Afghanistan, causing fuel prices to soar and sparking large anti-Iranian demonstrations. About one-third of Afghanistan's fuel needs, imported from Russia, Turkmenistan and Iraq, transit through Iran.
Afghan officials said at the time Tehran had expressed concern that the tankers were going to be used to supply Nato forces fighting a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Nowruz, meaning "new day" in Farsi, marks the transition from winter to spring and is celebrated across Central Asia and in Afghanistan as well as in Iran.
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