Taliban Asks Iran to Establish Serum Production Factory in Afghanistan

In an interview with Mehr news agency, Rezaei also criticised the Taliban member’s unofficial clothing and said, "Taliban border guards must wear uniforms and adhere to international laws."

To prevent border tension between Iran and the Taliban, Rezaei demanded meetings, negotiations, and even simultaneous and joint patrols between the forces of the group and the Iranian border guards.

The deputy chief of Iranian police said that the forces of this country have good relations with Pakistani border guards on the joint border with Pakistan, but they are facing problems on the borders with Afghanistan.

He also said, "Before the Taliban came to power, we had communication with the border guards of the previous government, and we almost jointly managed the border. Although there were problems, they [Afghan border forces] were responsive."

Rezaei added that after the Taliban came to power, despite holding meetings with the officials of this group in Tehran, Kabul, and at the borders, there are still problems because according to him, the Taliban forces are not responsible at the border.

"Their people change, they're inexperienced and they've taken unconventional actions and they shoot without purpose," he said.

The senior police official of Iran expressed these statements after the tension between the Taliban and Iranian forces in Kang district of Nimroz province, as a result of which a Taliban fighter and two Iranian border guards had been killed.

After the Kang border skirmish, both sides deployed forces on the Islam Qala border, however, there has not been any further conflict.

According to the sources, Abdul Haq Wasiq, the director of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) has ordered the release of Zia.

The Taliban had arrested this civil activist last month from the Kabul airport.

Hedayatullah Hedayat, deputy director of the Taliban-controlled National Radio and Television of Afghanistan at the time, accused Zia of being a member of the National Resistance Front and said that he was arrested when he "wanted to flee the country”.

Sources close to Zia previously told Afghanistan International that he had a background of work in the Ministry of Interior Affairs but had left the ministry in 2014.

Zia had been working with the Rahmani Foundation in Kabul in recent years. Sources close to the civil activist have denied his membership with anti-Taliban armed resistance groups.

Kardemir has not reacted to the Taliban’s claim of such a proposal too.

The Twitter page of the Taliban Railway Authority has published photos of the visit of the Taliban delegation to Kardemir company, claiming that the company’s senior executives have come up with the offer. The Taliban delegation said that they will present Kardemir’s proposal to the Taliban officials in Kabul.

On Friday, Istanbul hosted the meeting of the Middle East section of the International Union of Railways and a delegation of the Taliban Railway Authority was also among the participants.

The Uzbek president addressed the second meeting of the leaders of Central Asia and the European Union, which was held in Kyrgyzstan.

According to Gazeta daily, Mirziyoyev called on European countries to continue their humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan.

He emphasised that for this purpose, Uzbekistan is ready to provide the logistics hub in Termez for aid to Afghanistan.

The President of Uzbekistan suggested that special envoys of relevant countries should continue to consult to build a common approach to address the Afghan issue.

The first meeting of the heads of state of Central Asian countries and the European Union had been held in Kazakhstan in 2022.

The presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the deputy prime minister of Turkmenistan, and Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, participated at the second meeting of Central Asia and the European Union.

Ahead of the meeting of the heads of these countries, the special representatives of Central Asia and the European Union discussed Afghanistan in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

In the joint statement that was published on Friday at the end of this meeting, the participants emphasised on the formation of an inclusive government, ensuring the rights of Afghan women, and fighting terrorism in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan announced that during a meeting on Thursday, the Pakistani ambassador said that Uzbekistan's participation in regional projects is highly important.

The road map for the construction of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway line had been signed in Tashkent in 2019 between the then officials of the three countries.

After taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have also held talks with the Uzbek authorities about this railway project.

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have established close ties with the Taliban, but despite the group’s follow-ups and meetings regarding the construction of the railway, this project has not yet been implemented so far.