DUSHANBE, April 21, 2015, Asia-Plus – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani have reportedly vowed to expand cooperation to address the threat from the Islamic State (IS) group.

Ghani was on a two-day state visit to Tehran on April 19-20.  It was his first official trip to the neighboring country since taking office in September.

According to AFP , Ghani was accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister and minister for oil and mines.

Standing alongside visiting Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said the tumult hitting the region meant intelligence must be shared.

The National (Abu Dhabi) reports his comments came after IS said it was responsible for a suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s eastern city of Jalalabad which killed 33 people.  More than 100 people were wounded.

“People die daily, we face barbarism,” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said at a joint press conference with Iranian President.

President Rouhani said: “We have agreed to cooperate further in the fight against terrorism, violence and extremism in the region, especially in border regions.”  

Iran state-run media reported that Ghani''s talks with Iranian leaders also focused on efforts against drug trafficking and the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran.

During two-day visit, Afghan president discussed avenues for expanding bilateral ties as well as regional and international developments, IRNA reports.

AFP reports Iran and Afghanistan have close ties.  In 2001, Tehran took the rare step of cooperating with Washington in a US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime from power in Kabul.