Iran will not accept Kabul envoys until world recognizes govt

KABUL (Tolo News): Iran’s foreign ministry said that Tehran will not accept political representatives of the Islamic Emirate until the Islamic Emirate is recognized by the world. Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry, called on the current Afghan government to identify the perpetrators of an “attack” on the political representatives of Iran in Afghanistan, presumably referring to a demonstration held outside the Iranian embassy in Herat.
“The new government and the new political system in Afghanistan must be recognized so that the Islamic Emirate will be able to send new representatives,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, Kabul said that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate is scheduled to travel to Tehran in the near future to address current challenges. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting minister of foreign affairs, and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iranian minister of foreign affairs, in a telephone conversation, discussed the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran, as well as other political and economic issues.
“A delegation of (the Islamic Emirate) will travel to Iran to assess the situation of Afghan refugees. The exact date of this trip is still unknown,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate. Nearly eight months have passed since the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan and Russia, Pakistan, Qatar, Pakistan, China and Turkmenistan have accepted the presence of Islamic Emirate diplomats working in Afghan embassies and diplomatic missions even while not recognizing the current government.
“Both sides have to listen to each others’ views and concerns and should address them,” said Sayed Javad Sajjadi, an international relations expert. Abdul Ghafoor Liwal, Afghanistan’s former ambassador to Iran, resigned a few months after the Islamic Emirate takeover in Afghanistan and was replaced by his deputy, Abdul Qayoum Soleimani, who headed the Afghan embassy in Iran.
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the intelligence forces of the Islamic Emirate, Najibullah Wassiq, said that the lack of recognition of the current Afghan government by the international community is an obvious act of oppression against the people of Afghanistan. He made the remarks at a gathering held in Kabul titled, a “Gathering of the People.”
“This is an oppressive act–that the international community doesn’t recognize the Islamic Emirate. If they seize the funds of the Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan, it is oppression,” Wassiq said. The participants attending the gathering called on the Islamic Emirate to be supportive of the people and to eliminate corruption in the government.
The meeting was attended by dozens of people from across the country. “One of your responsibilities is (to eliminate) ethnic discrimination,” said Ghulam Farooq, a participant. The participants also called to prioritize unity and they urged there should be no ethnic discrimination.