Frozen Afghan Assets in Swiss-Based Trust Fund Bring $128 Million in Profit

The Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban on Saturday said that during Irfan’s visit to Iran, he met the officials of the Diplomacy Center of the Islamic Republic.

Irfan told the Iranian authorities that cooperation in higher education is more favourable under the Taliban than during the previous Afghan government.

It is said that the officials of Iran's diplomacy center committed to cooperating with the Taliban in higher education.

The Taliban officials discuss cooperation arrangements with regional countries such as Iran on higher education, while there is no development on when the group will allow higher education for Afghan girls and women in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, secondary and higher secondary schools remain closed for Afghan girls despite international pressure on the Taliban to allow Afghan girls their right to education.

During a press conference, Biden said on Friday, "Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said Al-Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we would get help from the Taliban. What is going on? Read your press. I was right."

Former US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that Biden's comments on Afghanistan might have come based on a recently declassified National Intelligence Council (NIC) assessment.

Khalilzad, who shared Biden's comments on his Twitter account on Friday night, said that the NIC assessment said that Al-Qaeda has little infrastructure in place in Afghanistan.

Khalilzad added that according to NIC’s report, Al-Qaeda is unlikely to reconstitute the capability in Afghanistan to direct external operations from the country through 2024.

The former US envoy also stressed that according to NIC assessment, if Al-Qaeda decides to carry out attacks globally, it can rely on the attack capabilities of its affiliates in the Middle East and Africa.

However, the UN Security Council has recently warned in a report about the emergence of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Vahidi added that Iran’s border security would be partially ensured by intelligent management systems.

Over the past two years, the Taliban and the Islamic Republic of Iran have had several border skirmishes at the joint borders between Afghanistan and Iran. In the latest case in June, Taliban forces and Iranian border guards clashed in the Kang area of Nimroz province. During this border skirmish, a member of the Taliban and two soldiers of the Islamic Republic had been killed.

However, the Iranian interior minister stressed that the border situation is regularly discussed with the Taliban.

He said, "We will certainly welcome any software and hardware equipment for the improvement of border security."

However, Vahidi said that currently "the situation of the joint borders with Afghanistan is calm and we do not have any problems with the Taliban”.

The Taliban released a photo of what appears to be a public reception by Bin Salman, saying that Mullah Yaqoob met the Saudi Crown Prince.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, among high-ranking foreign officials, the Saudi Crown Prince hosted the King of Malaysia, and the presidents of Pakistan, Senegal, and Bangladesh and shook hands with them.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid posted a photo of a handshake of the Taliban defence minister with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on Twitter and said that Mullah Yaqoob "met with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, during the Hajj trip”.

It is not clear whether the Taliban's defence minister was invited to Bin Salman's annual meet or not. The Saudi Press Agency did not mention details about the participation of the Taliban officials at the reception too.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most powerful Islamic countries which has not yet recognised the Taliban government. However, it seems that the Taliban spokesperson wanted to show that the group's defence minister was received in Saudi Arabia like other foreign officials by publishing the photo of Mullah Yaqoob shaking hands with Mohammed Bin Salman.

A news agency reported that some of these refugees have contracted scabies due to the lack of public sanitation and an overcrowded environment.

These Afghan citizens have been transferred with a humanitarian visa to Sao Paulo, Brazil, following the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021.

According to the Cuban state news agency, the 206 Afghan refugees are now forced to live in a corner on the busiest terminal in South America due to the lack of shelter.

Nawid Haidari, a 39-year-old Afghan refugee who worked as a translator for NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that fearing retaliation after the Taliban returned to power, he fled to Iran with his wife and four children, where he managed to obtain a Brazilian humanitarian visa.

He said that they don't have a place to wash dishes and clothes, and it's hard to sleep with the noise of air conditioners, but Haidari stressed that “it is better than being on the street with children”.

According to the Brazilian government, 405 Afghans have applied for asylum in the country in 2022 and 311 Afghans have applied for asylum in the country in the first five months of 2023.

The municipality of Sao Paulo has provided only 177 beds for immigrants and refugees and these centers are full and have no further capacity for new arrivals.