TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian foreign ministry lashed out at US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Robert Destro for his baseless remarks about the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran, reminding him of Washington's hostile policy towards refugees.

Dastro had criticized Iran in a twitter post for the recent incidents which happened for the Afghan nationals who are trafficked illegally to the country.

"We again call on Iran to respect human rights and cease violence against refugees," he said.

The Iranian foreign ministry's official twitter account in response reminded Dastro of US President Donald Trump's cruel policy towards the refugees.

"Look who's talking about the rights of refugees! A government whose campaign motto was to build a wall and has been repeatedly condemned for its cruel border policies (e. g. separating migrant children from their parents), is lecturing the world about world refugee day," it wrote.

The foreign ministry added that Iran and Afghanistan, as two brotherly nations, have strong and deep-rooted relations that are based on common historical and cultural bonds, stressing that no ill-intended foreign provocation can undermine this close relation.

"For decades, Iran has hosted millions of Afghan refugees who have fled the war and clashes that were ignited by US meddling and invasion. We'll continue to support our Afghan brothers and sisters during their hardships and again we call on US to end its destabilizing presence in our region," it underlined.

On May 1, some hype surfaced in certain media that the Iranian border guards had thrown as many as 57 Afghans into the Hari River (Harirud) in western Herat province to prevent their illegal entry into Iran. The Khaama Press News Agency said at least 23 of them drowned in Harirud. 

Tehran has categorically dismissed the claims, saying that the incident took place on the Afghan side of the border and Iranian forces had no role in the incident.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi also reminded that Iran has been hosting over three million Afghans, while providing them with the best facilities over the past 40 years with no discrimination.

Providing jobs, free education, free health facilities and many other facilities that are widely available to Afghan guests are indicative of Iran's good hospitality, he added.

From the first hours some reports were published in various media about the issue, the relevant institutions put a quick and accurate investigation of the incident on the agenda, he said.

"Since the issue was related to the lives of human beings, specially the citizens of the brotherly and neighboring country, Afghanistan, the issue was dealt with double sensitivity and an attempt was also made to take all the aspects of the incident into account at the earliest," he added.

The governments of Iran and Afghanistan agreed on Monday to remove all obstacles on the way of legal trafficking of Afghan nationals to Iran.

"Mr. (Mohammad Haneef ) Atmar (Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister) reminded the Islamic Republic of Iran's 40 years of good cooperation and appreciated it, and it was decided that the governments of the two countries try to remove all obstacles on the way of legal traffic of Afghan nationals and facilitate it so that our Afghan brothers can travel to Iran via fully legal and supported routes and can deal with their tasks more confidence," Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in a meeting with Atmar in Tehran.

He added that the two sides also decided to hold joint meetings for cooperation and investment in adjacent provinces of the two countries, stressing Iran's preparedness for such meetings.

"We hope that my and Mr. Atmar's colleagues in the economic and security fields give us a specified schedule to this end," Rahmani Fazli said.

Atmar, for his part, underlined the need for Afghan nationals, who mostly visit Iran for job, to traffic legally to the neighboring state.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, including Afghan political, economic and security officials, Atmar arrived in Tehran on Sunday to hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other senior Iranian officials.

Mousavi said on Saturday that the two sides are to confer within the framework of Iran-Afghanistan comprehensive cooperation document on economic, border, energy, water, health, medical and security cooperation, and discuss the conditions of Afghan nationals in Iran.

Reports said on Sunday that the document was discussed by the two high-ranking officials and will be finalized within 3 months.

Meantime, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Afghan Ambassador to Tehran Abdol Qafour Lival last week over the latest anti-Iran moves by certain elements in the country.

According to the reports few groups in Afghanistan are trying to instigate anti-Iran sentiments in a bid to disturb the two friendly nations’ good neighborliness.

The acts like insulting Iran’s diplomats and embassy in Kabul have been done after some incidents that befell on Afghan nationals in Harirud region and the Iranian province of Yazd. 

During the meeting with the Afghan envoy to Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry Director-General for West-Asia Seyed Rasoul Mousavi expressed deep concern that the moves of certain elements may affect Iran-Afghanistan ties.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry announced on June 11 that Kabul would send a delegation to Tehran for probing into the recent incidents and illegal immigration.