Do Not Run Away From International Obligations, Tehran Tells Taliban

Qomi said that a government which only represents one segment of the society has not been able to address all the crises.

Qomi, who also works as the special representative of Tehran for Afghanistan affairs, in an interview with Al-Alam TV channel, said, "Today Afghanistan is facing a crisis built over several decades, so a government which is made up of only one part of the society will not be capable of solving all the problems.”

Qomi stated that "security and development in Afghanistan depend on political stability”.

Despite relatively close relations with the Taliban, Iran has not officially recognised the group. Iran has also repeatedly called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan; a demand which the Taliban consider as interference in their internal affairs.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Minister of the Taliban, indirectly addressed the Iranian government on Wednesday, during a gathering of pro-Taliban clerics in Kabul, and sarcastically questioned them, “Do you have an inclusive government? Thousands of people have disappeared in your country, but no one dares to ask about it," he continued.

However, Kazemi Qomi said, "We are a country that is affected by the developments in Afghanistan. So, if the Islamic Republic of Iran says something about benevolence, it is within the framework of the interests of the Afghan people and their political system, as well as the security of the region and our national security, and it is not interference at all.”

Qomi also stressed that there are no Shias in the Taliban government.

He explained, "The point is that the presence of Shias and other ethnic groups in the government is still not desirable for them."

He expressed hope to see a government with the representatives of all the people of Afghanistan.

This organisation said that the Taliban has installed 62,000 security cameras in Kabul and other parts of the country.

On Wednesday, the Taliban's Ministry of Interior announced that it had installed security cameras to ensure the security of Kabul city and parts of the capital.

Hedayatullah Hedayat, Taliban’s Deputy Director General of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), wrote on social media platform X, that with the cooperation of the people, 60,000 security cameras had been installed in parts of Kabul city.

Amnesty International has warned that the Taliban is violating the freedom and privacy of people, especially women, by installing these surveillance cameras under the guise of providing security.

Matt Mahmoudi, Amnesty International’s researcher said, "This surveillance architecture would also erode the rights to privacy and freedom of assembly and expression, which have been under unprecedented attack since the Taliban came to power, resulting in the rule of law fading away.”

It has been said that the Chinese company, Huawei, is cooperating with the Taliban in setting up this system.

The Taliban have said that these cameras are necessary to fight crime and other threats.

Rights groups have repeatedly warned that authoritarian governments, such as China and Iran, use these cameras to identify and arrest their opponents.

The embassy said that passports have been distributed to children who are under 10 years of age.

On Thursday, Fazl Mohammad Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting ambassador in Tehran, told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting news agency, that the process of issuing passports in the embassy is only for children under the age of 10, students and holders of electronic ID cards.

However, he spoke about the suspension of the passport issuance for adults for an indefinite period and requested Afghan immigrants to not go to the embassy.

In addition, this Taliban official in Tehran had recently demanded a solution to the issue of documentation of newborns Afghans and birth certificates not being recognised by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This comes as about a week ago, the Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced the start of the passport issuance process for Afghan citizens in Iran.

On Monday, August 28, Zia Ahmad Takal, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban’s foreign ministry, had said that priority will be given to newborn children. In addition to not having a passport, having no electronic ID cards is one of the other problems of Afghan immigrants in Iran.

He did not explain more about the issue of legitimacy, but said that Afghanistan currently has a good opportunity to import goods from Iran.

During a meeting with the members of the private sector of Iran on Thursday, Roustaei announced an increase in the export of goods from Iran to Afghanistan.

According to him, in the first quarter of this year, Iran's exports to Afghanistan increased by two percent and reached 508 million dollars.

Roustaei added that last year, Iran exported goods worth about 1.7 billion dollars to Afghanistan.

The commercial attaché of Iran in Kabul explained that most of the imports in Afghanistan are related to food, agriculture, fuel, flour, wheat, sugar, edible oil, plastic products, eggs, vegetables, citrus fruits, ceramic tiles, medicine, medical equipment, and construction materials.

Roustaei quoted Taliban officials as saying that Iran is the biggest trade partner of the group.

He said that Afghanistan is the only country that imports more than 92% of its needs from neighbouring countries, especially Iran.

Although the Islamic Republic has not recognised the Taliban, it enjoys close ties with the group.

Shahabuddin Delawar, the group’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum, said that these contracts can lead Afghanistan to economic self-sustainability.

These contracts were signed on Thursday by Delawar along with the awarded companies in the presence of several senior officials of the group, including Mullah Baradar, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister.

Delawar said that the process of awarding these contracts has taken around two years.

The Taliban officials said that one of the mines awarded is the Chah Aab gold mine, which is located in Takhar province and has an estimated 31 tonnes of gold. The awarded contract for this gold mine has been estimated at 1.8 billion dollars. The Taliban officials said that the awarded private company, China-Afghanistan, will invest 310 million dollars in this mine.

According to the Taliban officials, according to the contract, 56 percent of the mining profit will be taken by the Taliban and the other 44 percent will remain for China-Afghanistan company.

The other mining contract awarded was for Aynak II copper mine, which is located next to Aynak I copper mine in Logar province and was awarded to another unknown mining company.

According to Taliban officials, the company will invest around 411 million dollars in the second block of Aynak copper mine. The Taliban officials stressed that 12 percent profit from this mine would be given to the Taliban and the other 88 percent would belong to the company.

The Taliban also announced that a lead mine has been awarded to a private company with an expected 75-million-dollar investment. The mine is located in Tulak district of Ghor province.

The mining site has been awarded to an Afghan company for thirty years and 20 percent profit from the mine will be given to the Taliban and the remaining will be owned by the mining company.

The Taliban also announced the award of the first block of Ghorian iron mine site in Herat province to a joint venture of Afghan and Iranian companies.

The joint venture is supposed to invest 2.8 billion dollars in the first block of Ghorian iron mine. According to the Taliban officials, the contract has been awarded for 30 years and 13 percent of the mining profit goes to the Taliban and the other 87 percent will go to the mining companies.

The Taliban officials also stated that another 874 million dollars will be invested in the contract for the second block of Ghorian iron mine. The Taliban said that 13 percent of mining profit will be given to the group and the other 87 will be owned by the mining company.

The Taliban added that the mining site has been awarded to an Afghan-Turkish joint venture.

The Taliban has also awarded the contract for extracting the third block of Herat's Ghorian iron mine to a joint venture of British and Afghan companies.

According to the Taliban, the awarded companies will invest 272 million dollars on the third block of Ghorian iron mine.

According to this contract, 13 percent of the mining profit will be given to the Taliban and 87 percent profit will be taken by the mining companies.

The Taliban also announced that the fourth block of the Ghorian iron mine has been awarded to a joint venture of Iranian and Afghan companies.

The Taliban added that the profit-sharing form this mining site will be the same as the other blocks of the Ghorian mining sites.