foreign forces. The criticism came just a few weeks after the United Nations Security Council voted to enforce sanctions against Iran for failing to halt its nuclear program. 'The presence and increase in the number of foreign forces is one of the factors in the insecurity, violence and dissatisfaction of the public,' said ... Mottaki .... A moment later the United Nations special representative to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, interrupted and told him to get to the point." Another report from Kabul added "Mottaki accused the U.S., Pakistan and allied forces of utilizing Afghanistan to support terrorist strikes inside Iran, including last week's bomb blasts in ... Zahedan, ... Sistan-Baluchistan province." This report said United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "hadn't heard [the] comments ... charging the U.S. with supporting terrorism inside Iran"; and said that "Mottaki exceeded his allotted time giving his speech, earning a rebuke from the conference's organizers. The Iranian diplomat said he had the right to give an extended account of the situation in Afghanistan, as Iran has been forced to absorb three million Afghans evading the fighting in their country." A third report said, in part, that Mottaki said "Increase in terrorism because of the active support of the US and NATO of terrorist groups in the region as part of their policy to sow ethnic and religious discord, is proof of the fact that the undesirable presence of the occupation forces has intensified insecurity and violence. Today, insecurity is not just plaguing the Afghan people but is in fact directly mushrooming in neighbouring states, especially in Pakistan." Honors Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2017 References 1953 births Living people Iranian Muslims Iranian Shia Muslims University of Tehran alumni Bangalore University alumni People from Golestan Province Foreign ministers of Iran Ambassadors of Iran to Turkey Ambassadors of Iran to Japan Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran politicians Front of Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader politicians Islamic Revolution Committees personnel 21st-century Iranian politicians