Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s interior minister, said that the Taliban has dismissed some of its "irresponsible" or "low-level" officials who made statements against Iran. Vahidi didn’t name these dismissed Taliban officials.
The Taliban has deployed heavy military equipment and weapons at the Islam Qala border with Iran. Videos received by Afghanistan International show that a convoy of Humvees and tanks has been sent from Herat to the border with Iran.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has ordered university professors to refrain from criticising the group’s government in their academic papers. According to a letter obtained by Afghanistan International, the professors must know Dari and Pashto languages.
Masoom Stanekzai, the former chief negotiator of previous Afghan government, urged the Taliban and Iran not to act based on emotional actions and think of the consequences due to the conflict. Stanekzai said that “Creating tension may be easy, but has irreparable consequences.”
The Afghanistan Football Federation announced that the national team players went to Saudi Arabia to participate in the training camp. The Federation in a statement said that Afghan players in the foreign leagues have also been invited to join the training camp in Saudi Arabia.
Following the criticism of Iranian media outlets, Jomhouri-e Eslami Newspaper in an editorial, wrote that Iran’s government should reconsider their relation with the Taliban. This daily warned the Taliban that “Iran has buried more savages than them and they are nothing”.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed that “enemies” of Iran want to transform the border clash with Taliban into a full-blown war. In a speech, he claimed that US created "various traps" to trick Iran into war.
On Monday, Taliban’s governor office in Balkh, announced that the group will build a religious madrassa every week in this province. According to the Taliban’s statement, construction of a madrassa named “Omar Salis” had started on Monday.
Continuing their protests in Indonesia, hundreds of Afghan refugees gathered in front of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Makassar. On Monday, during a protest, they asked the UN to resettle them and end the limbo in which they have been living for years.
Zamir Kabulov Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan said that border clashes between Iran and Taliban border guards had occurred before too and did not have long-lasting consequences. Kabulov told Sputnik News Agency that the clashes will not turn into a serious confrontation.
Two new outposts have been established in Shahrtuz area of Khatlon Province of Tajikistan, which is near the Afghanistan border. On sunday, Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan inaugurated the new outposts and said that Tajik forces will defend the borders with dedication.
Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s minister of interior, on Sunday, called the border skirmish with the Taliban in Nimroz as a “brief clash” which had ended quickly. Following the concerns of increasing border tensions, Iranian and Taliban officials have taken on a more conciliatory tone.
Tasnim News Agency reported that the clash between Iranian border guards and the Taliban in Nimroz province of Afghanistan has ended. Tasnim reported that officials from Iran and the Taliban held a meeting to assess the reason behind the clash.
Local sources said that the border guards of the Taliban and Iran are engaged in a skirmish in Maki area in Kang district in Nimroz province. According to the sources, the skirmish is currently ongoing, and the two sides have used heavy weapons.
After the fourth meeting of the EU and Central Asia Special Representatives and Special Envoys for Afghanistan, the participants stressed on the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and reversal of ban on women and girls.
Mustafa Mahami, Iran's leader’s representative in Sistan and Baluchistan, said that Tehran must use all means to address water rights issue. Mahami referred to the Taliban as a "puppet government of the United States" and urged for change in Iran's behaviour toward the group.
Khalid Hanafi, Taliban’s minister of promotion of virtue said that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada leader of the group has agreed to hire Shia scholars as the ministry’s ombudsman. Hanafi said that in these Shia ombudsmen have been hired in Daikundi, Ghazni, and Bamiyan provinces.
Rasul Mousavi, Iran’s assistant foreign minister, assured Afghan refugees in Iran that they are Tehran’s guests and would be respected. Mousavi indirectly referred to the Taliban as the source of the problems.
Semyon Grigoryev, Russia’s ambassador in Dushanbe, on Thursday, said that China, Russia, and Tajikistan are committed to establishing peace in Afghanistan. He was speaking at the Tajikistan, Russia, and Chia Friendship meeting in Dushanbe.
In a new appeal, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has called for an International Criminal Court investigation into the Taliban’s severe restrictions and unlawful crackdown on women and girls’ rights.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Afghanistan is one of the hotbeds of instability in the region. Addressing a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Shoigu added that illegal armed groups have strengthened in Afghanistan under the Taliban.