Karzai in Iran to meet Khatami

Karzai is expected to meet Iran's reformist president

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai has thanked Iran's president for his country's role in helping Afghanistan topple its Taliban rulers.

Karzai, who arrived in neighboring Iran on Sunday for a three-day official visit, told reporters he hopes Iran will aid Afghanistan's reconstruction.

He made the comments after a 90-minute meeting with reformist President Mohammed Khatami.

Iran, which shares a 600-mile border with Afghanistan, has pledged $560 million in aid toward Afghan reconstruction. More than 2 million Afghan refugees live in Iran.

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It was Karzai's first visit to Iran since taking over in December as head of the interim government.

The trip comes as the United States accuses Iran of helping to destabilize Afghanistan by harboring al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, which Iran has denied.

Diplomats in Tehran say Karzai will play down those allegations, if he addresses them at all, during his visit.

President Bush included Iran with Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil" in his January 29 State of the Union speech.

Khatami said that Iran and Afghanistan's relations with other countries have no bearing on their bilateral relations.

He added Iran believes that helping Afghanistan's government is its duty.

Many of Iran's hard-liners remain suspicious of Afghanistan's post-Taliban government.

One Tehran newspaper called Afghanistan "fire under ashes," saying the present government contains agents of foreign powers and will not last.

However, Karzai's visit was welcomed by Tehran's reformist newspapers in banner headlines ahead of his visit.