Iran Invites Taliban & Afghan Opposition To Khamenei Funeral

Tasnim News Agency, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on Thursday that Araghchi held talks with Muttaqi in Tehran. Neither Iranian nor Taliban officials have released details of the discussions.

Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, was killed on 28 February during the first day of US and Israeli strikes. His funeral is due to be held in the coming days.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said many foreign political leaders are expected to arrive in Tehran on Friday for the funeral ceremony. He added that guests from around 100 countries are expected to attend.

According to the sources, the former security official was targeted in an assassination attempt in Faizabad on Monday and was seriously wounded.

He was transferred in critical condition to a hospital in Kunduz for treatment but died on Tuesday night after suffering gunshot wounds.

According to the information received, he was struck by three bullets, two to the head and one to the leg.

Sources said that after the Taliban returned to power, Joya had been running a private business in Faizabad.

Images obtained by Afghanistan International show a large crowd attending the former official’s funeral in Faizabad city.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and Taliban authorities have not commented on the incident.

Nearly five years after the Taliban returned to power, reports of killings, arbitrary arrests and torture targeting former members of Afghanistan’s previous government and security forces continue.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed in his latest report that killings, arbitrary arrests and torture of former government employees and security personnel were continuing.

The report said the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented at least five killings, 20 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, and eight cases of torture and ill-treatment involving former government employees and security personnel between January 26 and March 31.

Images released by Baradar’s office showed Iran’s ambassador to Kabul accompanying the Taliban officials on the trip.

The Islamic Republic had earlier invited Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund to attend the ceremony. Iran’s ambassador to Kabul, Alireza Bikdeli, later delivered the official invitation for Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral to Mullah Abdul Wasi, the Taliban’s chief of administrative affairs.

Iranian media have reported that the funeral and burial ceremonies for the former leader of the Islamic Republic will begin next Saturday.

Ali Khamenei was killed about four months ago after being targeted in extensive US and Israeli airstrikes.

Amid the continuing war between the US-Israeli coalition and the Islamic Republic, Iran’s Assembly of Experts appointed his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader.

Iranian officials have said Khamenei’s funeral and burial were postponed because of the continuing wartime situation.

The Taliban maintains close ties with the Islamic Republic. On Wednesday, Iran’s ambassador to Kabul said relations between Tehran and the Taliban administration were moving in a constructive direction.

During the recent conflict between the United States, Israel and the Islamic Republic, the Taliban publicly expressed support for Tehran.

In 2024, Baradar and Muttaqi also attended the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Several foreign officials, including Pakistan’s prime minister, are expected to attend the funeral of the former Iranian supreme leader.

She argued that convicted offenders should remain in prison rather than be returned to Afghanistan.

Speaking to Afghanistan International on Wednesday, the German MEP said Berlin had yielded to Taliban pressure and warned that she did not want other European countries to follow the same approach.

Neumann also argued that deporting convicted Afghan offenders to Afghanistan would increase the risks faced by women in the country.

According to her, the Taliban would not imprison those deported, and Germany’s policy could expose Afghan women to a greater risk of sexual violence.

She added that deportations to Afghanistan would leave Europe more vulnerable to coercion and blackmail by the Taliban.

Asked why Germany had changed its approach and become the first European country to hold talks with the Taliban, Neumann said Berlin had fallen into what she described as the Taliban’s populist trap.

She said the prevailing view in Germany was that Afghan men convicted of crimes should be deported regardless of the consequences.

Neumann also criticised the transfer of Afghanistan’s consulate in Bonn and embassy in Berlin to Taliban representatives, arguing that the move endangered Afghans who had fled the group.

She warned that it could give the Taliban access to the personal information of Afghans who had escaped their rule.

According to Neumann, this could enable the Taliban to target political opponents even outside Afghanistan, using methods similar to those she said Iran has employed against dissidents abroad for years.

Commenting on the invitation extended to a Taliban delegation to visit Brussels, Neumann acknowledged that the decision had been deeply disappointing for many Afghans.

She said technical discussions should, in principle, take place in Kabul and that there was no need to invite a Taliban delegation to a European country.

Neumann noted that the European Union had set clear conditions for engagement with the Taliban five years ago, including respect for human rights, the formation of an inclusive government, unrestricted humanitarian access and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups.

She said all of those benchmarks had deteriorated under Taliban rule and questioned why a different standard now appeared to be applied.

The MEP also said the European Commission, which invited the Taliban delegation to Brussels, had been summoned before the European Parliament to explain what had been discussed during the meeting, what commitments the Taliban had made and what outcomes had been achieved.

The ministry said the meeting took place between the Second Asian Department of Russia’s Foreign Ministry and the Third Political Department of the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry.

No further details of the discussions were disclosed.

Russia is the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration.

The two sides had previously signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation.