Taliban Announces Sirajuddin Haqqani's Visit To United Arab Emirates

Mohammad Sadiq Khan said that the two sides agreed to jointly address these challenges.

Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan affairs wrote on his account on the social media platform X, "Today, I hosted Hashem Ashjazade, Iran's special representative for Afghanistan affairs and director general for South Asia at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

The meeting was also attended by Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran's ambassador to Islamabad, and Mohammad Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan's ambassador to Tehran, Sadiq Khan said.

The Islamic Republic and the government of Pakistan were among the few countries that established diplomatic relations with the Taliban at the very beginning and kept their embassies open in Kabul. However, due to the Taliban's lack of cooperation on the issue of Iran's water rights, as well as the group's unwillingness to suppress the Pakistani Taliban, Islamabad and Tehran's relations with the Taliban have been strained.

He told a meeting of the country's Security Council on Monday that the policy goes back to the Joe Biden administration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday, January 20, stressed that the United States is using Afghanistan's neighbouring countries to achieve this goal. He said that his remarks were a reference to the policies of former US President Joe Biden's administration.

"We will also not forget Afghanistan," he said at a meeting of the Russian Security Council. “The Americans are also trying to re-establish their presence to some extent, and they are using neighbouring countries for this purpose. They are thinking of restoring their military facilities there,” he added.

In early 2021, Joe Biden announced the end of the long-running US foreign military operation in Afghanistan, and only a few months later, the Taliban entered Kabul without any resistance, taking control of the city within hours.

Some Republican politicians and US veterans have repeatedly criticised the Biden administration for its handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The group also includes unaccompanied children waiting to be reunited with their families in the United States, as well as Afghans who are at risk of Taliban reprisals for cooperating with the former US-backed government.

The White House and State Department, which oversees US refugee programmes, have not yet responded to requests for comment, Reuters reported.

Shawn VanDiver, a veteran of the Afghan war and a member of an organisation supporting the evacuation of Afghans, told the news agency, "Afghans and advocates are panicking,” said VanDiver. “I’ve had to recharge my phone four times already today because so many are calling me.

“We warned them that this was going to happen, but they did it anyway. We hope they will reconsider,” he said of contacts with Trump’s transition team.

Although Reuters quoted VanDiver as saying that the flight was cancelled, he wrote on his account on social media platform X that the flights had not yet been cancelled.

Reuters wrote that with this decision, the United States has put thousands more Afghans who have received approval to resettle in the United States as refugees, but have not yet been offered flights from Afghanistan or neighbouring countries such as Pakistan.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly took a tough stance against immigrants and made it one of his main promises.

Nearly 200,000 Afghans have been transferred to the United States by the administration of former US President Joe Biden after the Taliban takeover.

According to Reuters, Afghans who had been confirmed to be settled in the United States have been removed from the passenger list of flights scheduled to operate until April.

These include nearly 200 family members of Afghan-American military personnel who were born in the United States or Afghans who came to the United States, joined the military, and became US citizens.

Xing added that the relations between the two countries have now entered a new phase.

On Monday, Taliban-controlled national television broadcast the remarks of the Chinese ambassador, who gave a speech on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and China.

In his speech, the Chinese ambassador said, "At present, China-Afghanistan friendly relations have entered a new phase. China has always been a friendly neighbour of Afghanistan and has supported Afghanistan's development, peace and stability."

"China is committed to friendly relations with Afghanistan and respects Afghanistan's independence and territorial integrity," he added.

The Chinese ambassador added that his country respects the independent choice of the Afghan people, the country's national ceremonies and religious beliefs, and does not interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs and does not pursue personal interests.

He also said that China has supported Afghanistan at the United Nations and in addition to calling for increased humanitarian aid, it has also taken a position on the lifting of sanctions and the release of Afghanistan's frozen funds.

China interacts with the Taliban, and both sides have accepted each other's ambassadors, however, China has not yet recognised the Taliban.

At the same ceremony, Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, said that "China has firmly supported the struggles and jihad of Afghans against the occupation of the former Soviet Union and the United States".

"China is the only neighbour that has not had any border dispute with Afghanistan so far," he added. Stanekzai stressed that Afghan soil will not be used against any neighbour, including China.

The ministry said that Khan Mohammad was released from prison as a result of "long and productive negotiations" with the United States.

Although the Taliban did not disclose the identities of the American prisoners, CNN reported that Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, two American citizens, were released from the group's custody in exchange for the release of Taliban prisoner.

The Taliban said that the group's prisoner had been sentenced to life in prison in the United States and was serving his sentence in a prison in California.

Khan Mohammad was arrested in Nangarhar about two decades ago, the group said.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were released from Taliban custody on Tuesday morning, January 21, and left for the United States.

In exchange for the release of the two American citizens, Washington handed over Khan Mohammad, who was arrested in 2008 on drug-related terrorism charges, to the Taliban, the report said.

CNN said that the prisoner exchange between the United States and the Taliban, which had been taking place for years, took place in the last hours of Joe Biden's administration.

CNN sources said that the Taliban prisoner was transferred to Qatar by US officials.

According to the report, Qatar has hosted several rounds of talks between the Taliban and the United States on the prisoner exchange. Doha has also facilitated the transfer of American prisoners from Kabul.

The Taliban's Foreign Ministry also said in a statement on Tuesday that the prisoner exchange with Washington was a "good example of resolving issues through dialogue" and appreciated Qatar's "effective role" in the process.

The Taliban said that it views the US actions positively, and that they "contribute to the normalisation and expansion of relations between the two countries".