Wall Construction On Afghanistan Border Progressing Rapidly, Says Iran’s Interior Minister

Fifteen people were arrested in Kabul, Nimroz and Sar-e-Pul and eight others were arrested in Balkh, Zabul and Daikundi on charges of violating the Law on the Promotion of Virtue.

The Taliban has accused these individuals of "moral corruption" and "witchcraft”.

The Taliban leader has authorised the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to detain individuals on charges of violating the controversial Law on the Promotion of Virtue, which was signed in September.

The Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said that the 23 arrested individuals had been handed over to judicial institutions after preliminary investigations.

The ombudsman of the Taliban's Ministry inspects people in all provinces through mobile patrols and monitors people's behavior and actions.

These ombudsmen claim that they are reforming society in accordance with the "Islamic Sharia”.

In September, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada signed the controversial law on the promotion of virtue. This law specifies the affairs related to the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, as well as the scope of the activities of the Ministry's ombudsmen.

According to this law, women's lives outside the home are severely restricted, and women's voices and faces are prohibited too.

These laws, which are implemented under the auspices of the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have affected many aspects of the daily lives of the Afghan people, especially women's rights and individual freedoms.

Iran's domestic news agencies reported that Alireza Bigdeli was welcomed by the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry officials upon his arrival in Kabul.

Alireza Bigdeli has replaced Hassan Kazemi Qomi by decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Qomi, who initially introduced himself as the head of Iran's diplomatic mission in Kabul, over time changed this title to chargé d'affaires, a rank lower than the ambassador. However, the Taliban's Foreign Ministry addresses Qomi and Bigdeli as the ambassadors of the Islamic Republic in Kabul.

In his farewell meeting with Qomi, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, said that he was "ready to work with the new ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the expansion of bilateral relations”.

Last week, in response to a question about the appointment of a new representative, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmael Baghaei said that Bigdeli "has been appointed as the head of our country's embassy in Kabul”.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, like Pakistan and the United States, has also removed the post of special envoy for Afghanistan, which observers say means that the level of Iran's official relations with the Taliban has been reduced.

On Sunday, November 24, 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, issued a decree appointing Alireza Bigdeli as the new charge d'affaires of the Iranian embassy in Kabul.

Alireza Bigdeli was previously the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Cyprus and the chargé d'affaires in Kazakhstan.

In a meeting with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Badruddin Haqqani discussed the transfer of Afghan prisoners.

Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman for the Taliban's Foreign Ministry, announced on Saturday, November 30, that Badruddin Haqqani met Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He wrote on social media platform X that the current developments in Afghanistan and the facilitation of UAE visas for Afghans were other topics of discussion.

According to Takal, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised to cooperate with the Taliban during the meeting.

The president of the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday accepted the credentials of a number of new ambassadors, including the Taliban's ambassador.

The United Arab Emirates, like other countries, does not recognise the Taliban government. In the 1990s, the country, along with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, were the only countries in the world to recognise the Taliban rule.

The organisation said in a report that the wave of migration has put a lot of pressure on local resources in Brazil.

The UN refugee agency on Friday (November 29) released a report on the situation and number of migrants in Brazil.

According to the report, Brazil hosts 790,000 migrants from different countries of the world, especially Venezuela, Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, and Ukraine.

The report states that Brazil has witnessed an increase in the number of migrants from various countries, including Afghans, in the city of São Paulo, and since the implementation of the humanitarian visa policy for Afghans in 2021 until August 2024, more than 13,000 humanitarian visas have been issued to Afghans.

According to the report, more than 12,000 Afghan migrants have arrived in Brazil during this period.

The United Nations has stressed on the need for more support for the implementation of local reception and integration systems in light of the gradual increase in the arrival of migrants and their needs in Brazil.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is emphasising on the protection of migrants in Brazil while other reports have been published about the difficult situation of Afghan refugees in the country.

The embassy said that it was committed to supporting Afghan women's access to the right to education and work.

Mario Crifo, Director of Public Affairs for the US Embassy in Afghanistan, announced in a video message that the US mission in Afghanistan supports the fundamental rights of Afghan women. Coinciding with the two-week global campaign against gender-based violence, he stressed that Afghan women want the same rights that other women around the world also want.

The US mission in Afghanistan has plans to increase Afghan women's access to fundamental rights, including education, employment, and civil and political rights, he added. The programmes are designed to empower Afghan women, Crifo noted.

In the video message, he called on audiences to join the campaign to combat gender-based violence and take action to eradicate this type of violence in their communities.

In their more than three years of control over Afghanistan, the Taliban has issued dozens of laws and orders restricting women's rights.

Despite the opposition of international organisations to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women, the group continues to violate women's rights and freedoms. The Taliban has called the ban on women's education and employment an internal issue and have announced that they will not allow any organisation or country to interfere in these issues.