Taliban Imposes New Restrictions on Shia Practices Regarding Celebration of Muharram

The ban is also imposed on raising flags on Muharram and opening cabins for volunteer distribution of food and water.

In the past twenty years, Afghanistan witnessed the celebration of Muharram and Ashura openly by the Shia community members.

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, stressed that the Taliban will ensure the security during the Muharram ceremony in the coming weeks.

Mujahid said that last year there was no security incident during Muharram and the group will make sure that security remains tight during the Shia religious ceremony.

After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, and despite the group’s emphasis on respect of the rights of Shia citizens of Afghanistan, the leaders of the Shia sect of Islam have complained of discrimination against members of the community.

Last year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Taliban removed the holiday of Ashura from the Afghan calendar. This decision of the Taliban faced harsh criticism from Afghan citizens, especially Shia citizens.

Afghan Shia leaders have repeatedly asked the Taliban to recognise Jafari's jurisprudence, however, the group has not yet officially expressed its opinion on this issue.

In one case, the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban rejected the request of the Council of Shiite Scholars to include Jafari jurisprudence in the university curriculum.

Iranian Daily Says Afghans “Occupying” South of Tehran & Causing “Security Issues”

Jul 13, 2023, 13:42 GMT+1

Iranian reformist newspaper, “Jomhouri Eslami”, on its front page wrote that the south of Tehran is under the "occupation of Afghans" and that this is a "full-fledged security" issue.

The Daily reported that "in addition to the security problem, the presence of Afghans has also caused a food security challenge in the area”.

Jomhouri Eslami newspaper is affiliated with the reformist political movement of Iran. The Daily published its report on Monday, July 10.

Some Iranian media have called the daily report’s title "strange".

Jomhouri Eslami quoted an Iranian journalist’s interview with Ensaf News and wrote that after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the presence of Afghans in Iran has increased dramatically.

The newspaper, quoting a source, discussed the life of Afghans in Iran, especially in the south of Tehran, and claimed that around eight million Afghans currently reside in Iran.

The newspaper claimed that Afghans live in a collective lifestyle and said that around 13-15 Afghans live in rented homes.

The report also discussed the possibility of a "rebellion by Afghans living in Iran" and it has been stated that "if the Afghans who are living in Iran decide to revolt, we [Iranians] are done".

Justifying this claim, Jomhouri Eslami has raised the issue of the recent tensions between the Taliban and the Iranian government regarding the water rights issue from the Helmand River.

The daily’s source claimed that when something happens in Iran, maybe a percentage of Iranians abroad chant slogans against Iran or the regime, but recently on the water rights issue that has been disputed between the Taliban and Iran, "the same nationals who were in Kahrizak [south of Tehran] chanted slogans in favour of the Taliban".

The report also stated that "Afghans can get a driving license or have a bank account and this will affect Iran’s economy”.

The journalist claimed that Afghans "come with empty pockets and return with full pockets".

However, it has been said that Afghans "deposit 50 to 60 billion Iranian Toman annually into the pockets of Tehran's governorate. According to the law, every Afghan citizen must pay three to four million Iranian Toman to the government every two to three months to renew their visa”.

The source of the newspaper called the exact number of Afghans in Iran a "mystery" and explained that there are no specific statistics because they enter Iran illegally.

According to the daily’s source, "If an Afghan kills someone and goes to Afghanistan, we cannot do anything."

In this report, it had been emphasised to the authorities of the Iranian government that "employing foreign nationals is a crime. The government inspectors must inspect all workshops and livestock farms south of Tehran where they [Afghans] have been employed”.

The reporter of Jomhouri Eslami believes that the issue of Afghans in Iran is currently a security dilemma for the Iranian government.

Iranian Police Arrest 150 Afghans in Hormozgan Province

Jul 13, 2023, 11:27 GMT+1

Iranian media outlets reported that the country’s police raided the eastern areas of Hormozgan province on Wednesday to "clean up the areas contaminated by fuel smuggling".

According to Iranian media outlets, 150 Afghan citizens have been arrested during the police raid.

Ali Akbar Javidan, the police chief of Hormozgan province told the Fars News Agency, close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, "In this operation, 550 fuel tanks with an amount of 300,000 litres were discovered, 80 motor pumps for fuel collection, five vehicles carrying fuel, five stolen and unauthorised motorcycles were discovered, 50 kilometers of fuel pipelines from tanks to the coast were destroyed, and 150 unauthorised foreigners were arrested."

Iranian authorities have not revealed the identity of the arrested individuals yet.

The campaign of Baloch activists also reported that the military forces, in addition to destroying and setting fire to fuel tanks, destroyed several houses in the attack on Kolahi Minab village in Hormozgan province.

A well-informed source told the Baloch activists campaign that these forces raided this village along with a special military unit and they didn’t allow movement of residents for hours.

According to this report, the lack of work and income has caused the residents of this village and neighbouring villages to be engaged in fuel delivery. Since the authorities of the Iranian government consider fuel delivery as smuggling, people engaged in fuel delivery are subjected to severe repression, and every year hundreds of them are killed and wounded by the Iranian military forces.

Radio Station Stops Its Broadcast in Balkh, Media Support Group Confirms Development

Jul 13, 2023, 10:21 GMT+1

Nai, Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan, in a statement, announced that the local radio station, Nehad, has stopped its broadcast operations in northern Afghanistan.

The station is based in Balkh province and has stopped its broadcast due to economic problems.

Nai emphasised that after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, almost half of Afghan media outlets have collapsed.

The broadcast operation of the radio station had also stopped last year due to a fire incident. According to the owners of the radio, the media group had been established 16 years ago in the Balkh province.

Nai stressed that mass media has been one of the major achievements of the past two decades in Afghanistan and said that the media ecosystem is in a decline.

Nai added that more than 65 percent of journalists and media workers have lost their jobs in the last two years.

Islamic Republic of Iran Hands Over 18000 Afghans To Taliban

Jul 13, 2023, 09:19 GMT+1

Majid Shoja, Khorasan Razavi Border Guard Commander, announced that 17,926 Afghan refugees have been deported by the Taibad Border Regiment to Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Shoja told Iran’s state news agency that the border guards handed over these "illegal" immigrants to the Taliban over the past 10 days.

After the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, thousands of Afghan citizens have fled to neighbouring countries, including Iran. However, the Islamic Republic has deported thousands of these Afghans back to Afghanistan.

Shoja said that decisive action will be taken against immigrants who enter Iran illegally.

Khorasan Razavi province of Iran has about 302 kilometers of joint border with Afghanistan.

50% of Zahedan Makki Mosque Students, Teachers Are Foreigners & Afghans

Jul 12, 2023, 16:31 GMT+1

Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that more than 50 percent of seminary students and some of the teachers of Zahedan Makki Mosque are foreigners and Afghans.

This news agency wrote that over the past few months, 132 of these seminary students have been deported.

In May, the Taliban’s foreign ministry announced that 23 Afghan Sunni seminary students had been released from Zahedan prison and returned to Nimroz province of Afghanistan.

Tasnim stressed that these individuals have been “identified and within the framework of the regulations, after preliminary detention, had been deported and handed over to the authorities of their country”.

This news agency published a confession video of some of these seminary students and officials of the mosque. It is still unclear under what conditions their confessions were made.

After the death of university student, Mahsa Amini, by the Iranian police, Sistan and Baluchistan province turned into the center of protests against the Iranian government.

The Iranian regime considers some of the religious movements belonging to the Sunnis of Zahedan, who support Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, the Sunni preacher of Zahedan, to be involved in these protests.

Mawlawi Abdul Hamid has continuously criticised the Iranian government in his Friday prayer sermons in recent months.

According to reports, the Iranian government has increased pressure on Mawlawi Abdul Hamid and Makki Mosque officials to restrain the protests.

In the video published by Fars news agency, one of the Makki madrassa officials said that this madrassa has nearly a thousand seminary students and half of them are Afghans.

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