While Denying Elections At Home, Taliban’s Dy FM Calls Türkiye’s Prez Elections Decisive

Haalvsh reported that Iranian border guards started shooting at smugglers and killed one person. On the other hand, the Taliban opened fire and killed an Iranian border guard.

However, the Islamic Republic’s news agencies have presented another narrative of the incident.

According to Fars and IRNA news agencies, Iranian border guards and drug smugglers clashed in the border region of Nimroz.

Both media have reported that the convoy of drug smugglers, who were crossing the territory of Afghanistan to Iran, shot at the forces of the Islamic Republic, but no one was killed.

However, Fars news agency has confirmed that Iran's border guards held a meeting with the Taliban on Sunday and expressed their dissatisfaction to the group.

The Taliban have not yet commented on the matter. However, the group had announced on Saturday that they met with Iran's border guards and discussed the resolution of border disputes.

Recently, a video clip was published on social media that shows the verbal clash between the Taliban and Iranian forces on the border. In the video clip, the Taliban fighter said to the Iranian soldier that if they want conflict, the Taliban will fight it.

In a statement on Friday, the Coalition added that the UN has allowed its agencies in Afghanistan to abide by the Taliban’s orders in the name of aid distribution and humanitarian assistance.

The statement of the Coalition stressed that the United Nations’ compliance and acceptance of the Taliban’s restrictions imposed on women has given the Taliban the courage to continue violating women’s rights.

However, the Coalition of Afghan Women Protest Movements urged the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations to stand in defence of Afghan women’s rights.

The Coalition said that the United Nations and other aid agencies in Afghanistan must suspend their activities until Afghan women are allowed to work. In the statement, it is emphasised that these agencies should use any means and pressurise Taliban and hold them accountable in cases of human rights violations.

The coalition of Afghan Women Protest Movements consists of the Justice and Freedom Movement, the Spontaneous Movement of Protesting Women, the Unity and Solidarity Team, the Main Movement of Powerful Women, the Takhar Women's Movement, and the Afghan Women's Revolutionary Movement.

After the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan in August 2021, these movements repeatedly appeared on the streets of Kabul and some provinces and protested against the group’s policies.

Mahami added that Iran must use all pressure tools on the Taliban to achieve its goals.

According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), in a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Energy of Iran, Mahami said that there have been many delays, mismanagement, and indecision while pursuing the water rights of Iran from Helmand River.

He said, "At the beginning of my tenure as [Ali] Khamenei's representative in Sistan and Baluchistan, I had warned about the water rights issue, but the officials at the time had peace of mind that the supply of water from Afghanistan will continue according to the water treaty, which didn’t happen.”

The Iranian government has announced that the water rights issue from the Helmand River is a priority of Iran in 2023.

However, Mahami said, "We have been facing a lack of rainfall for many years, but the authorities are just now following up on the water rights issue.”

Earlier, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister of the Taliban, conveyed a clear message to Iran that whenever the rainfall increases, Iran will receive more share of its water rights from the Helmand River.

According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, during the meeting with Mullah Hasan Akhund, the Taliban’s Prime Minister, the Qatari delegation discussed cooperation in education, health, and economic sectors.

In September 2021, Abdulrahman al-Thani visited Kabul as Qatar's foreign minister and met with Taliban officials.

Mujahid on Friday said that the Prime Minister of the Taliban asked the Qatari authorities to play a bigger role in bridging the gap between Afghanistan and the international community.

This is the first visit of the Prime Minister of Qatar to the city of Kandahar. The Taliban’s cabinet and senior officials are stationed in Kabul while Kandahar is considered the main base of the Taliban. Sources said that Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, lives in Kandahar city.

Qatar enjoys close relations with the Taliban. Since 2013, the country allowed the Taliban to open its political office in Doha.

The Doha agreement between the US and the Taliban was signed in Qatar in 2020. Also, Doha hosted intra-Afghan peace talks between the Taliban and the previous government of Afghanistan.

Despite Qatar's close relationship with the Taliban, Qatari officials, including the country's foreign minister, have repeatedly criticised the Taliban's policies on women's education and work.

The Taliban also stressed that they decided that expert groups from the two sides should determine the joint border areas of Iran and Afghanistan.

The Taliban said that the meeting took place after the Iranian side started the construction of a road on the zero points of the border with Afghanistan and the Taliban forces prevented the construction.

The Taliban statement didn’t elaborate on the location of today’s meeting with Iranian border guards, but in the photos released by the Taliban officials, only the Islamic Republic’s flag can be seen in the meeting room.

The Iranian officials have not reacted to the issue so far.

Recently, a video clip has been circulating on social media platforms which shows verbal tension between the Taliban and Iranian forces at the border areas. In the video clip, a Taliban fighter tells the Iranian soldier that if they want war, the Taliban will fight it.

The border forces of Iran and the Taliban have engaged in gun battles several times over the past two years since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.