Top Taliban officials met with the Iranian Foreign Minister on Sunday to discuss tensions on the common border between the two countries, treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran and water rights.
This was an Iranian Foreign Minister’s first visit to the Afghan capital since 2017.
According to the Afghan government’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Nature, the Iranian Foreign Minister said that Iran is determined to return about 35 million Afghan refugees and has no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of its neighboring country.
The statement further said that the Iranian Foreign Minister also demanded the full implementation of the Helmand Treaty of River Water, under which the two countries were obliged to jointly use water resources.
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Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Iran to be honored with Afghan refugees, saying that a large number of refugees’ return should not be possible in a short time.
He added that incidents like the execution of Afghan citizens in Iran incite public sentiment.
Abbas Iraqi also met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttiq and Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqub.
Iran’s state -run news agency Erna quoted Iraqi as saying that despite the recent ‘fluctuations’, they expect more economic and better relations with Afghanistan.
Iran has not yet officially recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which came to power in 2021 when US and NATO forces left the country after two decades of war.
However, Tehran is maintaining political and economic relations with Kabul and has allowed the Taliban to take over the Afghan embassy in the Iranian capital.
