The Iranian foreign ministry in a statement marked the 23rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian diplomats and a journalist in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan�s Mazar-i-Sharif.
"Twenty-three years ago, this day, Iranian diplomats and a journalist were martyred at the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, in spite of all�international laws and treaties," the statement said on Saturday.


International sympathy with the people and government of Iran in the wake of this terrorist incident and the sympathy of the oppressed people of Afghanistan with Iran�was a manifestation of the deep ties between�the two nations, it added.


The ministry reiterated that the people and government of Iran, as in the past, stand by their brothers and sisters in Afghanistan and will do their best to put an end to the 40-year-old war in this country.


Re-condemning the Mazar-i-Sharif terrorists attack, statement announced that different aspects of the attack are required to be clarified and this is�a definite demand of the government and people of Iran.


August 8 was designated as the National Reporter�s Day in Iran after Taliban militants killed Mahmoud Saremi, the correspondent of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), along with eight Iranian diplomats in the Northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.