BRUSSELS -- Afghanistan's Deputy Minister for Health, Ferozuddin Feroz, said Monday that the two Muslim countries of Iran and Afghanistan enjoy close and brotherly ties and that Kabul would like to see Iran play a vital role in the reconstruction and stability of his country.

"We have good neighborly, friendly and brotherly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We want to see more cooperation between the two countries," Feroz told IRNA in Brussels.

The Afghan official said he expected Iran to play an important role in the Bonn process for the reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan.

He noted that the security situation in Afghanistan was improving and the cultivation of poppy was now less than before.

Earlier yesterday, the Afghan minister met with European Commission officials in Brussels to discuss EU's help and aid for Afghanistan's health system.

"The health care needs of Afghan families are very great. Mothers dying in childbirth are the highest ever recorded in the world. More than 25 percent of children die before their first birthday," Feroz told journalists after the meeting.

"The support of the international community create a unique opportunity to reform the health system in Afghanistan," he said speaking in English.

Markus Cornaro from the Afghanistan Unit of the Commission told reporters that the EU will be spending 830 million euros this year to rebuild Afghanistan.

The commission has pledged about one billion euros over five years in support of the Bonn Agreement.

The commission's assistance includes the financing of hundreds of health clinics and primary schools, clearance of landmines, return of key public service workers, return of refuges and clean up operation in seven cities.

Responding to a question on a recent EU decision to send about 100,000 Afghan refugees back home from Europe, Feroz said it will make things more difficult.

"It would be difficult for the Afghan refugees living in Europe to adapt themselves 'in our bad situation in Afghanistan'.

"We need more support from the commission to help adapt the returnees to Afghanistan," he added.

World leaders were meeting in Petersburg, near Bonn, Monday to assess the progress made in Afghanistan and to discuss the challenges that lie ahead.

This follows their historic meeting about a year ago, where the Bonn Process set the milestones for moving toward a stable and democratically elected government in Afghanistan by 2004.