A Taliban delegation led by the foreign minister visited Tehran today to discuss the economic and immigration crisis in Afghanistan with Iranian officials, for the first time since the Islamists seized power in the country.
Iran, like the rest of the international community, has not recognized the new Islamic Emirate established by the Taliban since taking power in Afghanistan on August 15.
“The visit is aimed at discussing political, economic and transit issues, as well as transit and immigration issues,” Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Kahar Balhi wrote on Twitter.
The Taliban delegation, led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaki, has already met once with Iranian officials, Balkhi said.
Iran, which shares a 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan, had not even recognized the previous Taliban regime (1996-2001). In recent months, Tehran appears to be trying to reach out to the Islamists, but has not recognized their government.
“We are not close to recognizing the Taliban at the moment,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Hadibad said this week, urging the Islamists to try to gain the international community’s trust.
The Taliban have formed a government made up entirely of men, who belong almost entirely to the Pashtun ethnic group. At the same time, they have restricted women’s rights, provoking condemnation in most countries.
Iran, home to millions of Afghans, is worried that the number of migrants on its soil will increase as Afghanistan faces one of the worst humanitarian and economic crises in the world.
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