The Iranian embassy in Kabul has confirmed that Bahadur Aminian's term as the ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Afghanistan has ended. According to the embassy, Aminian’s term has concluded based on “the usual diplomatic procedures".
However, a leaked audio file attributed to him about the Taliban and Afghanistan’s relations has been in the stirring up controversy.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic announced on Twitter that Aminian will return to Iran at the end of "three years of service" in Afghanistan. It is not clear who is the next ambassador of Tehran to Afghanistan.
Earlier, sources told Afghanistan International that Iran has replaced Bahadur Aminian, the country’s ambassador to Kabul.
The change in Tehran’s ambassador in Kabul comes weeks after Aminian’s controversial speech about the Taliban and Afghanistan had been leaked.
After Afghanistan International published his speech, Aminian has not been seen in Kabul and Iran’s deputy ambassador in Afghanistan has been in charge of the embassy’s operations.
Last month, a hacker group got access to an internal Fars News Agency bulletin and published the full text of its findings on a Telegram channel.
A part of these files was the transcript of the speech of Bahadur Aminian, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in a small gathering in Tehran. Aminian had said that if his conversations would get published in the media and reached the Taliban, he would not be able to return to Kabul.
In that speech, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran had described the Taliban as a disaster that is unacceptable, embarrassing, and subversive, but at the same time, he had emphasised that the Islamic Republic has no choice but to work with them and support them.
He compared the Taliban, which, according to reports, came to power in Afghanistan with the extensive financial and military support of Iran, with the Mongol army, and suggested that the Islamic Republic must treat them like the Mongols so that they become civilised.
