Term of Iran’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Ends; Aminian To Return To Tehran

Agha Jan returned to Kabul along with Mullah Yaqoob, the Taliban's defense minister on December 8.

He was the head of the Taliban's political committee and was the target of a failed assassination attempt in Pakistan in 2011 as a result of differences among the Taliban.

Since then he has lived in Turkey and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It is not clear as to why Agha Jan has returned to Kabul.

After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, there have been many reports about the group’s internal differences between the Haqqanis and the Kandahari Taliban.

The Taliban have continuously tried to keep the details of these differences from leaking outside the group’s inner circles. But in the latest case, hundreds of Kandahari Taliban have left Helmand and returned to Kandahar due to group differences and dissatisfaction.

Some observers believe that Agha Jan has returned to Kabul to resolve these internal differences.

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.

The text of Aminian’s speech had been published by Afghanistan International.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kabul reacted immediately and confirmed the main source of the news publication, but called publishing the news as biased.

The last time Aminian had been seen in Kabul was in a meeting with Hamid Karzai, three days before the news of his speech was published. Hasan Mortazavi, the deputy ambassador of the Islamic Republic, has been running the affairs of the embassy and has been meeting with the Taliban officials over the last two weeks.

During the past week, it has been reported that Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s special envoy for Afghanistan, has replaced Aminian as the new Ambassador of Tehran in Kabul. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran reacted to these rumors and announced that Qomi will continue to work as the special envoy in Afghanistan affairs.

Russia said that according to their information, at least five people had been killed and 30 others, including five Chinese citizens, had been injured in the attack.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia stressed that joint and coordinated action of the international community is necessary to eradicate terrorist threats from Afghanistan.

Earlier, the Russian embassy had been attacked in Kabul which killed two senior diplomats of the country too. ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack.

ISIS had previously said that the Taliban is not capable of providing security for embassies in Afghanistan.

The group also attacked the Charge d'Affaires of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul. He was not harmed in the attack, but his bodyguard was seriously injured.

As the ISIS attacks increased on foreign targets in Afghanistan, Russia suspended its consular services in Afghanistan, Pakistan pulled out its ambassador, and China has asked its citizens to leave Afghanistan.

Bhutto was in New York to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 77, a coalition of developing countries within the framework of the United Nations. The meeting is focused on the development and climate issues of the member countries.

In a press conference at the UN headquarters, Bhutto said that the Taliban's policies towards women and border clashes with Pakistan, will not result in a reduction of the level of relations with the group.

Pakistan’s foreign minister added, "Not only Pakistan, but also other countries of the world should interact with the Taliban. We cannot ignore the Taliban; they are part of the reality. However, we must reconsider our interaction, especially in relation to the issue of the Pakistani Taliban and our expectations from them.”

He criticised the western countries for trying to change the Taliban's policy towards women and the formation of an inclusive government through economic and banking sanctions.

Bhutto said, "We cannot impose hunger on Afghans to make them believe in empowering women."

He added that the economic situation of Afghanistan is dire and the political atmosphere to change the behavior of the Taliban has not been created.

Pakistan's foreign minister admitted that following the ISIS attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, security conditions are not favourable for the activities of the Pakistani diplomatic delegation in Kabul.

Bhutto said that he had not recalled the Pakistani chief of mission in Kabul to Islamabad, but added that whenever the Taliban addresses Pakistan's security concerns, he will return to Kabul.

Obaid ur Rehman Nizamani, the chief of mission of Pakistan in Kabul had been targeted in Kabul on December 2 and is currently in Pakistan.

The Pakistani Express Tribune newspaper quoted the spokesperson of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry as saying, "Until security is guaranteed, he will stay here."

ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and a week after the attack, it released pictures of the group’s snipers, who targeted Nizamani.

However, Pakistani officials said that they would conduct an investigation into the perpetrators of the attack.

Hours after the attack, the Taliban had announced that they had arrested a suspect in connection with the attack. Earlier, the Pakistani embassy in Kabul announced that it will continue operations in Afghanistan.