UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday accepted the credentials of several new ambassadors, including Mawlana Badruddin, the representative of the Taliban.
In a ceremonial group photo taken at the presidential palace, Mawlana Badruddin is seen standing alongside Maria Belovas, the female ambassador of Estonia, on his right, and Ashrafjon Gulov, the ambassador of Tajikistan, on his left. Each envoy is positioned in front of their respective national flag—except for the Taliban ambassador, who stands without any flag behind him.
The United Arab Emirates, like the majority of countries worldwide, has not recognised the Taliban government. However, this development highlights the ongoing diplomatic engagement between the UAE and the Taliban. Notably, during the 1990s, the UAE, alongside Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, was among the few nations to officially recognise Taliban rule.
Nader Yar-Ahmadi, head of the Centre for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs of the Islamic Republic, said that 1.2 million undocumented immigrants are deported from Iran every year.
Yar-Ahmadi warned undocumented migrants to leave Iran or face forced deportation.
Speaking at a meeting of the Commission for the Regulation of Foreign Nationals on Thursday, November 28, the Iranian official said that people who have entered Iran "illegally" are currently being deported with impunity.
He described the Islamic Republic's refusal to punish migrants as "the best help" for them.
Nader Yar-Ahmadi added that people who intend to immigrate to Iran must go through the legal pathways of issuing permits.
He also stated that the Centre for Aliens Affairs helps unauthorised immigrants have a dignified return, otherwise they will have no choice but to be forcibly deported.
Ali Bagheri, the director general of foreign employment at the Ministry of Labour, also said that according to statistics, less than five percent of employment in Iran is allocated to immigrants.
He added that employers are provided with a list of jobs based on the needs assessment of the provinces so that they can use immigrants if it is not possible to hire Iranian workers.
Earlier, Iranian officials announced that two million undocumented immigrants would be deported from the country by the end of this year.
Imangali Tasmagambetov, the secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) said on Wednesday that Afghanistan continues to be a source of serious challenges and threats for the member states of the organisation.
Tasmagambetov said that at the meeting in Kazakhstan, the plan to secure Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan will be discussed. The CSTO summit will be held on Thursday, November 28, in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
"One of the important documents presented for review is the CSTO's proposed plan to strengthen the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border," Tasmagambetov told TASS news agency.
"Afghanistan continues to be a source of serious challenges and threats to collective security, and this set of proposed measures is intended to increase the level of protection of the organisation's member states," he noted.
The Astana meeting will discuss the military and political situation in the member states of the Collective Security Treaty and within their borders.
These countries are seeking to create a security belt on the Afghan border. Preventing drug trafficking and the infiltration of terrorists into Central Asian countries is one of the goals of this security belt. The plan comes as Chinese citizens were recently targeted by gunmen on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. At least one Chinese man was killed and four others were wounded in the attack.
Some sources said that the attackers attacked from Afghan soil and returned to their shelter.
Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Belarus are permanent members of the CSTO.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that the inaugural meeting of the Counter-Narcotics Working Group was held on Thursday.
This working group was formed based on the decisions of the third meeting in Doha. UNAMA said that the task force would pave the way for coordinated engagement with the Taliban.
The plan to establish the working group is one of the recommendations of the independent assessment presented to the Security Council to "pursue a more coordinated and structured process of engagement with the Afghan governing authorities for the benefit of the Afghan people," the statement said.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General's Representative and Head of UNAMA, called the fight against narcotics a very important issue for Afghanistan, which she said affects both rural communities and regional peace and stability.
So far, no information has been released about the members of this working group.
It is unclear whether there are any members of Afghan civil society and anti-Taliban factions in the working group.
Based on the decisions of the third meeting in Doha, another working group on the economy is also to be formed.
After the establishment of these two groups, the fourth meeting in Doha will be held.
The third Doha meeting was attended by the special representatives of countries for Afghanistan on June 30 and July 1. At the time, the United Nations stated that the purpose of the meeting was to "increase international engagement with Afghanistan in a coherent and structured manner”.
Taliban representatives were invited to the third Doha meeting, but women, civil society, and political opponents of the Taliban were not present.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a well-known Iranian filmmaker said that Afghan artists are fighting the Taliban's plans to radicalise society through Afghanistan International and other networks.
Addressing the British Parliament, Makhmalbaf said that Afghanistan International provides information to Afghanistan 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Iranian director and writer, who is also well-known in Afghanistan, said on Wednesday in the British Parliament's Culture, Media and Sports Committee, referring to democracy and freedom of expression during the republican era, "Afghanistan had 97 TV channels, more than here (London). Those two decades were the height of freedom of expression. It was the height of democracy. Despite the violence, freedom of expression was better than in the entire Middle East."
Speaking at the committee to ask Britain for help to evacuate artists from Afghanistan, Makhmalbaf said, "Therefore, I say that saving these artists is not saving people, it is the fruit of two decades of democracy. It is the salvation of Afghanistan's cultural heritage. When they come here, the voices of the people of Afghanistan will become voiceless."
The well-known Iranian filmmaker pointed to the role of Afghanistan International, and BBC Persian, saying, "Afghanistan International is a new TV channel headquartered in London. Most of the educators and artists cooperate with this network. It produces news for Afghanistan 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
These TV channels are set up by Afghans who have fled Afghanistan, he said, and added that "we need more channels and more voices".
According to Makhmalbaf, Afghan artists and intellectuals use these networks to spread information about what is happening in Afghanistan and educate people the values of democracy and freedom.
Addressing members of the British Parliament's Culture and Media Committee, he said, "Imagine that today, Afghan children are under the Taliban's special education system. We will have many terrorists in the next generation. The Taliban produce terrorists."
Makhmalbaf added, "If you want to have open-minded people in Afghanistan, you need a partner here, we do not have expertise in the field of Afghanistan. When artists come from Afghanistan, they can educate their people through social media and TV channels."
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is a well-known Iranian director whose film "The Journey to Kandahar" won many awards. Time magazine named the film one of the 100 best films in the history of world cinema in 2005.
British producer and writer Jimmy Mulville also told a meeting of the British Parliament's Culture and Media Committee that those moving to the UK did not need to find work or housing. "They want not to be killed, (when) they come here, they can work, they can produce content through Afghanistan International TV, BBC Persian and other channels," he added.
Referring to the Taliban's media restrictions in Afghanistan, the British writer said that young people in Afghanistan "see their cultural values through these networks, even though from 4,000 miles away, there is freedom of expression that they (youth) do not have”.
Makhmalbaf told a meeting of the British Parliament's Culture and Media Committee that at least seven artists have been killed in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Makhmalbaf said that the lives of hundreds of other artists are also at risk.
The Iranian director and writer said that he and his friends compiled a list of 800 artists and filmmakers whose lives were in danger in Afghanistan two months before the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
Makhmalbaf said that his campaign has so far relocated 398 Afghan artists and their families to France, Germany and the United States, but there are still 283 others, including 90 artists, with families in Afghanistan. The Iranian filmmaker, who attended the meeting with his daughter and son, Hanna and Maysam, said, "At least 301 artists and their families have been transferred to France. Germany has transferred 80 of them and another 70 have been transferred to the United States."
Makhmalbaf pointed to the dangers that threaten those left behind in Afghanistan, saying that those who managed to reach Iran and Pakistan have recently been deported by the Islamic Republic. He called on members of Britain's Culture, Media and Sports Committee to help those who remain in Afghanistan and save their lives as soon as possible.
Twenty-three years after the historic Bonn Conference, the German city hosted a closed-door meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Informed sources told Afghanistan International that the meeting was attended by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and some political figures.
In the historic Bonn Conference Hall in the Petersburg Hotel in 2001, the basis for the formation of a new government, an emergency Loya Jirga, the holding of presidential elections, the drafting of the constitution, the formation of a parliament, and the participation of women and ethnic groups in the structure of the system were laid.
A source told Afghanistan International that the meeting, titled "Afghanistan at the Crossroads: 23 Years After the Bonn Conference", was organised by the Academy of International Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
According to the source, in addition to Hamid Karzai, former Afghan foreign ministers Zalmai Rassoul and Rangin Dadfar Spanta; former Afghan ambassador to Germany Hamid Sidig and former Afghan consul general in Germany Sayed Lutfullah Sadat were present at the meeting.
The mayor of Bonn and a number of Afghans living in Germany also participated in the meeting.
In his speech, former President Karzai called the absence of representatives of all political groups at the Bonn conference a "historic mistake" that he said has hindered the realisation of the aspirations of the Afghan people.
Hamid Karzai is referring to the absence of the Taliban at the Bonn conference. He is one of those politicians who believe that if the Taliban had attended the meeting, the 20-year war and the group's resurgence would probably have been prevented.
Karzai went on to emphasise the historical and good relations between Afghanistan and Germany and said that Germany can once again host intra-Afghan talks.
He also reiterated the importance of a national dialogue among Afghans and said that the Afghan people should take the initiative for dialogue and reconciliation.
President Karzai said that during his presidency, he called the Taliban brothers, and now he considers the opponents of the Taliban brothers.