Trade between Iran and Afghanistan has been disrupted as cargo truck crossings at the shared border have been halted, sources told Afghanistan International, following rising tensions between Iran and Israel.
Ahmad Zia Shinozada, a member of Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce, confirmed that commercial goods have not been permitted to pass through the border since the previous day.
“The movement of cargo trucks has stopped, and goods are no longer crossing between the two countries,” Shinozada said.
According to Shinozada, annual trade between Iran and Afghanistan has reached approximately five billion dollars since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Neither the Taliban nor Iranian officials have issued public statements regarding the closure or its expected duration.
A Kenyan court has granted former Afghan lawmaker Zahir Qadir a one-month extension to file an appeal against an extradition order to the United States, sources close to the case told Afghanistan International.
Qadir, a former deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s House of Representatives, was arrested in Nairobi on 18 April while travelling from Qatar to Kenya. He is wanted by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges of drug trafficking and conspiracy to possess illegal weapons.
Sources familiar with the matter said Qadir’s legal team had secured the extension to allow time to prepare a defence. “The lawyers have obtained a one-month window from the court and intend to submit documents and video evidence to refute the accusations,” one source said on Saturday, 14 June.
On 25 May, Qadir’s family had told Afghanistan International that his lawyer had already filed an appeal, expressing hope the court would overturn the extradition order, allow Qadir to return to Afghanistan, and halt his transfer to the US.
While the lawyer had also requested a temporary suspension of the extradition ruling, the judge rejected the request, stating that the appeal could proceed without delaying enforcement of the sentence.
The Nairobi court had previously ruled in favour of extraditing Qadir to the United States, where he faces charges related to drug trafficking and the illegal possession and transfer of heavy weapons.
The Taliban has indicated interest in the case, with acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi assuring Qadir’s family that the group would follow up “within its capacity.” The family has since renewed calls for Taliban intervention to secure his release.
Qadir’s arrest was based on a US warrant issued on 25 March. He has remained in Kenyan police custody pending the outcome of the appeal process.
An Afghan man residing in Oklahoma has pleaded guilty to plotting a terrorist attack targeting large crowds on US Election Day, the Department of Justice announced on Friday.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, admitted to planning the attack with an accomplice, Abdullah Haji Zada, with the intent to carry out a mass-casualty assault on 5 November. According to federal prosecutors, Tawhedi purchased two rifles and 10 magazines in preparation for the attack, which was allegedly inspired by support for the Islamic State (ISIS).
US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement that Tawhedi “endangered lives and gravely betrayed the nation that gave him refuge.”
“By pledging allegiance to ISIS and plotting an attack against innocent Americans on Election Day, this defendant endangered lives and gravely betrayed the nation that gave him refuge,” Bondi said. She confirmed that Tawhedi would face legal accountability, have his immigration status revoked, and be permanently removed from the United States following his sentence.
She added that the Department of Justice “has zero tolerance for those who exploit our freedoms to spread violence.”
Tawhedi now faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison. His accomplice, Haji Zada, could face up to 15 years, according to officials. The Department of Justice said that upon completing their prison terms, both men will be deported and permanently barred from re-entering the United States.
Tawhedi was arrested by the FBI last year. According to the indictment, he entered the US in 2021 under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programme, intended for Afghans who supported US government efforts in Afghanistan.
FBI documents reveal that Tawhedi had viewed ISIS propaganda and made donations to a charity believed to be a front for funnelling funds to the terrorist organisation. Authorities said his actions were intended to support ISIS’s extremist goals on a high-profile date meant to maximise public impact.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that from March 2024 to March 2025, a total of 1,579 foreign national children were deported from Iran along with their families.
According to Iranian state media, Yarahmadi confirmed that deportation efforts targeting child labourers, many of whom are Afghan, will persist. He also stated that among 937 immigrant children permitted to remain in Iran with their families, authorities have secured written pledges ensuring they will no longer be involved in street begging.
Iranian officials often refer to Afghan migrants as “foreign nationals,” though Afghans make up the overwhelming majority of the country’s immigrant child labour population. Last year, Ali Kazemi, secretary of Iran’s National Body on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, reported that 85 percent of child labourers in Tehran were Afghan.
The continued expulsion of Afghan child labourers comes amid a broader surge in deportations from both Iran and Pakistan, creating significant humanitarian and logistical challenges for Afghanistan. Despite these difficulties, the Taliban has maintained cooperation with the Iranian government on migrant repatriation.
Human rights groups have criticised the mass deportations, citing risks to children’s safety and well-being upon return to Afghanistan, where living conditions remain precarious due to ongoing conflict, economic collapse, and restricted access to education and services.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation, has criticised recent comments made by the Taliban’s leader in which he denounced democracy and defended the group’s treatment of women.
In a post on his X account (formerly Twitter) on Friday, 13 June, Khalilzad responded to a sermon delivered by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada during Eid prayers, in which Akhundzada rejected democratic governance and criticised Western nations.
“During the recent Eid sermon/prayer, the leader of the Taliban was very critical of democracy,” Khalilzad wrote. “And, of course, the Afghan people have the right to have their own form of government.”
Khalilzad, who played a key role in negotiating the US-Taliban agreement under the Trump administration, clarified that his remarks were not an endorsement of Afghanistan’s previous government. “This is not a defence of the lawlessness, corruption, and many other failures of the previous government,” he noted.
However, he added: “It is important to observe that many of the most successful, richest, and most powerful countries in the world are democracies.”
During his sermon, Akhundzada condemned the United States as an “oppressor” and accused both the US and Israel of committing human rights violations, particularly in relation to civilian casualties in Gaza. He further declared that no non-Muslim nation has suffered as much as Palestine.
In defence of the Taliban’s ongoing restrictions on women, including bans on education, employment, and freedom of movement, Akhundzada claimed the group had brought “modesty and honour” to Afghan women. His remarks drew swift criticism from international rights groups, who accuse the Taliban of severe gender-based repression.
The Taliban’s Directorate for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat province has instructed the local traffic authority to ban women from driving, according to an official letter obtained by local media.
The letter, signed by Sheikh Azizurrahman Muhajir, head of the directorate, claims that “women are incapable of learning to drive and have scattered minds.” It argues that driving is “an important and highly responsible profession” and that even minor mistakes could result in the loss of lives.
As a result, the Taliban has requested Herat’s traffic management office to prohibit women from driving in the city and on public roads, effective immediately.
The directive marks another setback for women’s rights in Afghanistan, where female drivers are already rare and often face harassment. Despite this, women are legally allowed to drive in nearly every country, and numerous studies show they tend to be safer drivers than men.
According to a report by The New York Times, British researchers analysing data from over 14,000 traffic fatalities between 2005 and 2015 found that men were significantly more likely than women to be at fault in fatal crashes. Male truck drivers were nearly four times more likely than female drivers to cause deadly accidents, and male motorcyclists were almost 12 times more likely than female riders to be responsible for fatalities.
Afghanistan has one of the highest traffic accident rates in the region. On Thursday, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Traffic reported 117 traffic incidents nationwide during the Eid holidays, resulting in 43 deaths and 158 injuries. Among the dead were 31 men, two women and 10 children.
Taliban forces in Herat have frequently harassed female drivers. Setayesh, a woman in the city, told Deutsche Welle that she had been subjected to repeated violence by Taliban officials while driving. She said women used to drive out of necessity, but since the Taliban returned to power, they have been told that no woman may leave home without a male guardian.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is the main body enforcing the Taliban’s increasingly restrictive policies on women. The ministry has previously banned women from accessing public parks, travelling without a male chaperone, and appearing in public without full-body coverings.