Iran Claims To Have Handed Over 1,000 Afghan Prisoners To Taliban

The officials of the Iranian Ministry of Justice have reported the handover of 1,136 Afghan prisoners to the Taliban over the past year.

The head of the Iranian ministry's prisoner transfer committee stated that these individuals were transferred to Afghanistan to serve out the remainder of their sentences.

Iranian Students’ News Agency, ISNA, reported on Tuesday, that Askar Jalalian, Iran’s deputy justice minister for human rights, raised this issue in a meeting with the Taliban ambassador in Tehran.

As per the report, Jalalian said, “Agreements regarding the transfer of prisoners, the extradition of criminals, and judicial assistance in civil and criminal matters have been finalised between the two countries. This stands as a clear example of the diligence and efforts to enhance legal and judicial relations between Iran and Afghanistan."

This Iranian official added that since 2013, 3,150 Afghan prisoners have been handed over to the Afghan authorities.

ISNA reported that Fazl Mohammad Haqqani, the Taliban ambassador in Tehran, appreciated the cooperation of the Iranian government for the implementation of the agreement on the transfer of prisoners to the country.

Earlier this year, Taliban officials announced that they had received 401 Afghan prisoners from Iran on multiple occasions.

In May 2023, the Taliban stated that 200 of the prisoners they received from Iran had been sentenced to death. Subsequently, in June 2023, the Iranian government transferred 180 Afghan prisoners to the Taliban in Herat, followed by another 101 prisoners separately.

During a visit to Kabul last month, the Iranian deputy justice minister, Jalalian, reportedly reached an agreement with the Taliban regarding the transfer of eligible prisoners to Afghanistan.

As per the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Jalalian emphasised that the prisoners' consent is a prerequisite for their transfer to their home country.