Removing Taliban From Terrorist List Will Be A Lengthy Process, Says Russian Official

According to one of the leaked letters, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry requested $1 million from the Afghan Consulate in Zahedan, Iran.

A series of internal communications, published by a hacker group and reviewed by Afghanistan International, highlight significant financial exchanges between the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry and its overseas diplomatic missions.

One letter, dated 15 January 2025, just five days before Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. President, shows that the Taliban Foreign Ministry formally requested $1 million from the Afghan Consulate in Zahedan.

Another document indicates that the Taliban’s embassy in Tehran transferred 7 million Afghanis to the Taliban Foreign Ministry’s account at Afghanistan’s central bank. However, the timeframe for collecting this sum remains unclear.

The leaked records further highlight the substantial monthly revenues generated by the Afghan embassy in Islamabad. Between June and September 2023, the embassy earned over $700,000, a figure excluding its operational expenses.

Additionally, a letter from the Afghan Consulate in Quetta states that during the second quarter of 2023, the office generated approximately $130,000 in revenue.

While these documents do not provide a complete financial picture of Taliban-controlled diplomatic missions, they underscore their importance as revenue sources for the regime.

The Taliban has sought control over more Afghan diplomatic missions abroad, not only to gain political leverage but also to increase its foreign currency reserves.

A significant portion of the revenue from Taliban-run embassies and consulates in Iran and Pakistan comes from:” visa issuance, passport renewals and egal document verification.

With at least 6 million Afghan migrants in Iran and over 3 million in Pakistan, the Afghan embassies in these countries are among the most profitable.

Additionally, Afghanistan’s trade relations with Iran and Pakistan surpass those with any other regional country, further boosting the Taliban’s diplomatic revenues.

Speaking at a meeting in Kabul, Hanafi stated that regional tensions are not in the interest of neighbouring countries and emphasised that the Taliban supports peaceful diplomacy.

“If they interfere in our internal affairs, we also have the right to defend ourselves,” he declared, stressing that mutual respect and good relations are beneficial for all regional nations.

While Hanafi did not explicitly name any country, his remarks come amid growing tensions between the Taliban government and Pakistan.

Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban of harbouring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, a claim the Taliban has consistently denied.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that Pakistani officials are considering military operations inside Afghanistan, following earlier warnings that they would take direct action if cross-border attacks persisted. The deteriorating relationship between the two sides has heightened regional security concerns.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, Pakistan has experienced a significant surge in security incidents.

According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, the country recorded 521 terrorist attacks in 2024, marking a 70% increase from the previous year. These attacks have resulted in at least 2,000 casualties, further escalating tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.

However, this call comes against the backdrop of over 1,000 days of educational deprivation for women and girls in Afghanistan.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, UNESCO, the UN’s educational, scientific, and cultural organisation, highlighted that only one-third of the world’s scientists are women and that many girls face discouragement in pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, designated by the UN General Assembly, aims to promote and strengthen female participation in STEM education and careers.

While the UN continues to advocate for increased access to scientific fields for women, millions of Afghan girls and women remain barred from education beyond the sixth grade, including higher education at universities.

On this occasion, the ban on education for girls beyond the sixth grade in Afghanistan has reached 1,242 days, while the prohibition on women’s university education has lasted 782 days.

Despite widespread domestic and international condemnation, the Taliban continue to uphold their restrictions on female education, claiming that the current situation in Afghanistan is unsuitable for reopening schools and universities to women and girls.

The prolonged education ban has drawn global criticism, with rights organisations warning of its devastating impact on Afghanistan’s social and economic future. However, efforts to reverse these policies have so far yielded no results.

The ministry reported that these unidentified aerial objects were detected at an altitude of 1,000 feet, originating from the Mandi area of Afghanistan and moving toward Pakistan.

In a letter to the Taliban embassy in Islamabad, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that on 26 July 2024, two unidentified flying objects were observed crossing the border from Mandi, Afghanistan, into Pakistani airspace at a height of 1,000 feet.

The letter noted that the first object moved towards Watch Tower 12 / Ehsan Tower, and the second object headed in the direction of Rehan Fort.

In addition to the unidentified flying objects, the ministry reported that a vehicle was also spotted moving from the Mandi area of Afghanistan toward Rehan Fort, at a distance of approximately 1.5 to 2 kilometres.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the incident as a border violation, expressing serious concerns over the breach. The ministry urged the Taliban embassy in Islamabad to relay the information to relevant Taliban authorities for a thorough investigation and to take necessary measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.

In response, Sardar Ahmad Shakib, the chargé d’affaires of the Taliban embassy in Islamabad, formally conveyed Pakistan’s concerns regarding the unidentified flying objects in a letter to the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul on 9 September 2024.

The announcement, reported by IRNA on Tuesday, stated that Bahrami was appointed to the position by Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bahrami is a seasoned diplomat who has twice served as Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan. His first term began in the final years of President Mohammad Khatami’s administration (August 2003) and continued until 2007, during the first term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.

According to IRNA, before his departure from Kabul, Hamid Karzai awarded Bahrami the prestigious “Ahmad Shah Massoud” government medal in recognition of his diplomatic contributions.

A decade later, in 2013, Bahrami was reappointed as Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, a role he held until November 2019.

Prior to his ambassadorial appointments, Bahrami served as Iran’s Consul General in Jalalabad and Kandahar, further deepening his diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan.

His expertise in Afghan affairs was evident when he accompanied Abbas Araghchi during the Iranian Foreign Minister’s first visit to Afghanistan following the Taliban’s return to power.