TEHRAN -- According to reports released on Monday, the Afghan interim government of Hamid Karzai has named Ahmad Moshahed, an Afghan politician believed to be a close friend of Karzai, as the new Afghan ambassador to Tehran.

An Afghan diplomat in Tehran said that Doctor Moshahed is scheduled to arrive in Tehran in two weeks' time to replace the current Afghan ambassador to Tehran, Mohammad Kheirkhah.

Kheirkhah is a close ally of Ismaeil Khan, the governor of Herat Province in western Afghanistan, which borders the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai visited Iran in late February.