On First Day In Office, US Defense Secy Stresses Support For Washington's Afghan Partners

Alireza Bekdeli said that recognition is a legal process based on international law and has its own characteristics.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with the Taliban's prime minister, foreign and defence ministers, as well as a number of Afghan businessmen, during his one-day visit to Kabul on Sunday. Araghchi is the first Iranian foreign minister to visit Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in the past three and a half years.

In these meetings, he emphasised that a new chapter in relations between Iran and Afghanistan will begin. However, this visit was also met with criticism inside Iran.

The Jomhouri-e Eslami newspaper wrote, "The supporters and encouragers of this trip either do not have a complete knowledge of the region and are not aware of the consequences and complications of the Taliban's rule, or they are lobbying and paving the way for the Taliban, or they are pursuing personal or group interests, and in general, they do not have a heart for Iran and Iran's national interests."

The newspaper strongly criticised the Taliban, writing, "A rebellious, violent, and backward group that lacks internal legitimacy and acceptance, and has destroyed all ethnic and religious groups and minorities, and does not respect the most basic rights of women, and does not tolerate negotiations, does it deserve a visit at the level of the foreign minister?"

In an interview with ISNA news agency, Iran's ambassador to Kabul responded to these criticisms, saying that interaction with neighbours is part of humanitarian principles.

"If there is a need for a reason for the relationship between two neighbours in the same apartment, the neighbouring countries should also look for reasons for their relationship with each other," he said.

He added that Iran's interaction with Afghanistan is based on securing the mutual interests of the people of the two countries. "The issue of recognition of the Taliban regime is a different discussion that should be addressed in its place," he said.

‘Situation of Iranian Women in Afghanistan’

Abbas Araghchi also met with some Iranian citizens during his visit to Kabul. According to the Iranian ambassador, most of the Iranians living in Afghanistan are women who are married to Afghan men and live in the country due to family ties.

Referring to the precarious situation in Afghanistan, Bekdeli said, "The economic problems caused by years of war and conflict have also affected the lives of Iranian citizens. We are trying to reduce the economic problems of these people.”

Iran has close ties with the Taliban, and in addition to expanding economic cooperation, efforts have been made to establish "intelligence channels" between the two sides. The Islamic Republic is concerned about the activities of ISIS and other opposition groups in Afghanistan, and the Taliban is also concerned about the movements of its opposition fronts in Iran.

However, the Islamic Republic has extensive influence over the Taliban government, especially in the group's leadership circle in Kandahar.

Expanding economic relations, managing border security issues, addressing the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran, combating terrorism and narcotics, and managing water resources are among the most important issues of Iran's attention in relation to Afghanistan.

According to an audio file provided to Afghanistan International on Monday, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, said that he had been "infected with a coronavirus-like disease" and that was why he had "gone to rest".

He did not mention that he left Afghanistan and went to Dubai after fearing arrest, but accused the media of spreading "false propaganda" in this regard.

Reliable sources told Afghanistan International on Monday that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had ordered Stanekzai's exit ban and arrest, but he was able to leave Kabul with the help of Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, the Taliban's defence minister. Apparently, he has become angry with Stanekzai because of his harsh and unprecedented criticism of the Taliban leader.

After the publication of the Afghanistan International report, Zia Ahmad Takal, a spokesman for the Taliban's Foreign Ministry, told local media, without mentioning the report, that "there is no disagreement among Taliban officials and Stanekzai has gone to rest".

In the audio file, Abbas Stanekzai said that he was unable to personally respond to the reports due to his severe illness. He also said that he had asked the Taliban's Foreign Ministry spokesman to respond to these reports.

In the audio message, he clarified, "There is no disagreement between me and the Supreme Leader. Everything is calm."

Abbas Stanekzai's harsh and unprecedented statements against Hibatullah Akhundzada about the "un-Islamic" deprivation of women's rights have angered the Taliban leader. Stanekzai said that the closure of schools and universities for girls is unjust and illegitimate.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for students of a madrassa in Khost Province recently, Stanekzai said that the Taliban has been "acting against Sharia" and had ignored the rights of 20 million of Afghanistan's population (women).

He strongly criticised the ban on girls' education, stressing that the Taliban's decision has no religious basis and only reflects Hibatullah Akhundzada's personal viewpoint.

He said that this decision has caused the world to turn against the Taliban.

Although there have been numerous reports of disagreements between Taliban officials and the group's leader over the ban on women's education, members of the group insist that all Taliban officials obey Hibatullah Akhundzada's orders. At least two senior Taliban officials, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Abbas Stanekzai, have warned of the consequences of the group's leader's policies, without naming him.

The study, published on Monday, said that the Taliban had changed the school curriculum and removed key subjects.

The study, titled "Women's Access to Quality Education in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan," said that the number of Taliban’s jihadi schools is higher than what has been officially announced.

The Afghanistan Human Rights Centre has recently been established. Sima Samar, former head of the Human Rights Commission; Farid Hamidi, former Attorney General of Afghanistan and former commissioner of the Human Rights Commission, and Musa Mahmoudi, a former member of the commission, established the centre.

According to the study, the Taliban has established many jihadi madrassas across Afghanistan since the beginning of their rule. The Taliban's Ministry of Education has announced that more than 21,000 jihadi madrassas are active in the country, but the Afghanistan Human Rights Centre has said that the number of these madrassas is much higher, based on the evidence it has obtained.

Research shows that the Taliban has built a large jihadi school in each province with extensive facilities and dormitory capacity for 2,000 people. In addition, jihadi schools have been established in district centres. For example, in Kunduz Province, four large jihadi madrassas and a total of 800 religious schools have been established in the past three years.

According to this study, 100 religious schools have been established in Khanabad district alone. This is while during the republican period, three religious schools were active in this district.

Jihadi schools are different from regular religious schools. In addition to religious lessons, jihadi madrassas also teach the Taliban's ideology and support for the group.

‘Impact of Jihadi Schools on Young Minds’

The Afghanistan Human Rights Centre is deeply concerned about the impact of jihadi schools on the thoughts and views of young people. According to the report, the Taliban is seeking to strengthen their ideological rule by increasing the number of these madrassas and making changes to educational programmes. By promoting violence and extremist thoughts, this group tries to keep society away from access to modern sciences and concepts.

The Afghanistan Human Rights Centre has warned that this trend will lead to the radicalisation of youth and the promotion of dangerous ideologies in society.

The Afghanistan Human Rights Centre has emphasised that the Taliban has been able to have a negative and significant impact on the thoughts of young people in a short period of time. These changes in the education system and the increase in jihadi schools have been aimed at consolidating the Taliban's rule and promoting extremist ideas.

‘Changes In Curriculum’

According to a study by the Afghanistan Human Rights Centre, one of the major changes in the Taliban's curriculum in girls' primary schools is that basic themes such as "socialism," in which concepts such as human rights, women's rights, peace and democracy were taught, have been removed. Some teachers have also reported that the subjects of "civic education," "skills," "art," "patriotism," and "vocational training" have been removed from the curriculum.

The research shows that the teaching hours in schools are mostly devoted to religious themes. Themes such as "Emirate Studies", "Recommendations of the Leader of the Emirate", "Principles of Jurisprudence", and "Morphology and Syntax" have been added to the curriculum.

The Taliban's ban on girls' education in public and private schools has led to the enrollment of a large number of girls in religious schools. According to the Taliban's Ministry of Education, more than 24,000 girls were enrolled in the group's religious schools in 2023.

Also, last year, more than 300,000 religious students were studying in Taliban schools, of which more than 95,000 were girls. The Afghanistan Human Rights Centre wrote that unlike schools, there is no age requirement for girls to be admitted in madrassas. However, the issue of observing the full hijab is one of the basic conditions in the jihadi schools of this group.

For the past three years, the Taliban has closed schools above the sixth grade and universities to girls. The international community has made any discussion about the Taliban's recognition conditional on the observance of women's rights, respect for human rights, and the reopening of schools and universities. However, the Taliban leader said in his latest speech that the world does not accept any of their words. He also emphasised on "jihad" and confronting the West.

However, "injustice to half of Afghanistan's population (women)," in the words of the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, has also caused internal discord among the Taliban. Some Taliban officials have sharply criticised the group's leader for closing schools and universities to girls. However, domestic and international criticism has had no effect on the positions of Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah.

Mast asked the Biden administration what was the benefit of this move for the United States.

The harsh criticism follows the suspension of all US foreign aid, with the exception of aid to Israel and Egypt.

The suspension of US foreign aid has caused a severe shock in the Kabul foreign exchange market. Hours after the news of the suspension of aid was published, the value of the dollar in Sarai Shahzada, the Kabul currency market, exceeded 80 afghanis.

Prior to the suspension of its foreign aid, the United States was Afghanistan's largest financial backer, which is controlled by the Taliban.

However, the US State Department announced in a letter to its diplomatic missions on Friday (January 24) that under the executive order of the new President Donald Trump, all foreign aid – with the exception of aid to Israel and Egypt – will be suspended for 90 days.

The letter stressed that no new foreign aid contracts will be signed until the situation is reviewed by the US secretary of state. The decision comes as part of the Trump administration's new policies to review foreign aid to other countries.

The Biden administration quietly awarded $15 million in taxpayer funds to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to help distribute "oral contraceptives and condoms," a non-public congressional funding notice reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon shows. In doing so, the administration acknowledged that "some coordination" with the Taliban would be "necessary for programmatic purposes."

Afghanistan International had previously published the news, citing its sources in Qatar and Kabul.

Earlier, Taliban sources told Afghanistan International that Mohammad Naeem, the head of the Taliban's embassy in Doha, had been summoned to Kabul and replaced by Suhail Shaheen.

Mohammad Naeem Wardak previously served as the Taliban's ambassador in Doha.

After his recall to Kabul, Suhail Shaheen was appointed as the Taliban's ambassador in Doha instead of Naeem Wardak.

After taking over power in Kabul in 2021, the Taliban introduced Suhail Shaheen as their representative to the United Nations. After three years of waiting, the United Nations did not hand over the seat of Afghanistan to Suhail Shaheen.

After the Taliban took control of Kabul and the group took control of the Afghan embassy in Qatar, Mohammad Naeem Wardak was in charge of the embassy.

Earlier, Taliban sources in Kandahar told Afghanistan International that the Taliban are preparing for the consequences of the change in US foreign policy towards Afghanistan at the same time as Donald Trump is reelected as president of the US. The appointment of Suhail Shaheen, who has experience in negotiating with the international community, is part of the Taliban's preparations to change the US foreign policy towards Afghanistan.

The United States usually negotiates with the Taliban through the Taliban's embassy in Qatar on prisoner releases, the fight against terrorism, humanitarian aid, and other issues.