Afghanistan Urged to Ensure Security of Diplomatic Sites

Iran called on the Taliban to ensure security at Iranian diplomatic sites in neighboring Afghanistan after Afghan protesters attacked the Iranian Embassy in Kabul and the country’s consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Herat.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said more needed to be done after the protests became aggressive.
In recent weeks, unverified videos purporting to show Afghan refugees being mistreated in Iran have been published on social media, angering Afghans. Iran has denied the accusations.
“Full security and a necessary guarantee for safe activity of the embassy and representatives of Iran in Herat and other cities of Afghanistan should be provided,” he said on Monday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also summoned Afghanistan’s envoy to protest against attacks on the Iranian embassy in and the consulate in Herat.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Afghanistan’s envoy was notified that consular sections of Iran’s missions in Afghanistan have suspended their services until further notice.
Rasoul Mousavi, the head of the South Asia Department of the Foreign Ministry, reminded the Afghan charge d'affaires of the responsibility of governments in ensuring the security of diplomatic missions and called for legal proceedings against those attacking Iran’s diplomatic missions.
Iranian missions across Afghanistan will resume their services once Afghanistan ensures their security, Mousavi said on Tuesday.
Fars News Agency said protesters were brought to the consulate in Herat from nearby rural areas and they threw stones at gates and windows of the building. It said Taliban forces dispersed the protesters by shooting into the air and blamed the rally on pro-Western groups in Afghanistan.
In the Afghan capital of Kabul, about 20 demonstrators gathered outside the Iranian Embassy shouting slogans to protest the videos, which have gone viral.

Influx of Refugees

The number of Afghan refugees fleeing to Iran has increased since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August. Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the number of Afghans in Iran jumped to five million from nearly four million before the Taliban took power.
In a press conference on Monday morning, Khatibzadeh had said the influx of Afghan refugees to Iran could not continue considering the country’s limited capacities.
He said the Taliban, as the caretaker governing body in Afghanistan, must exercise responsibility in this regard.
“The wave of the [Afghan] displaced persons cannot continue and the burden of responsibility cannot fall on a single neighbor. No matter how much effort Iran makes, our capacities are limited,” the spokesman said.
He pointed to the generous hospitality that Iran has provided for the Afghan refugees for more than four decades, saying the Afghan nationals have enjoyed the same subsidies and services that Iranian citizens have received.
Denouncing the attempts to devalue Iran’s assistance and foment a wave of phobia about Iran in Afghanistan, Khatibzadeh said cyberspace has been employed to distort the realities.
He also deplored the mischievous moves inside Iran with the purpose of inciting phobia about Afghans, stressing that the Iranian and Afghan nations are close friends.
Following a fatal stabbing attack by a foreign assailant in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad, President Ebrahim Raisi cautioned that the extra-regional powers are resorting to ethnic and religious issues to incite division between neighbors.
In comments on Thursday, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi described the stabbing attack as a terrorist action to which the enemy has resorted to foment religious division between friendly nations, stressing that the unity between Iran and Afghanistan will not be harmed by such moves.