On Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry urged the Taliban to ensure the safety of its diplomats and employees at its consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat, which the Taliban said it had seized.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – August 15, 2021 – Diplomatic Affairs
“Given the Taliban’s dominance over the city of Herat, we draw their serious attention to fully ensuring the safety and health of diplomats and diplomatic facilities,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.
Western embassies and aid agencies began evacuating civil servants from Afghanistan on Friday after the Taliban said they had captured Herat and another major city in an advance that raised fears of a collapse of the US-backed government.
“Our diplomats, like the diplomats of the other three countries who are in Herat, are in excellent health and security and have no concerns,” Rasoul Mousavi, an Iranian foreign ministry official, said on Twitter earlier. Shiite-majority Iran has long been wary of the Sunni Taliban. In 1998, Tehran almost went to war when Taliban militants killed at least eight Iranian diplomats and an Iranian journalist at the Iranian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The forces of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) have captured the administration of Herat. Consul General, diplomats, and staff inside the building. Mousavi, director-general of the West Asia region at the Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter earlier.
“The forces running the city are committed to (guaranteeing) the complete security of the Consulate General, its diplomats, and its staff,” Mousavi said, without elaborating.
In July, Tehran hosted a meeting of Afghan government representatives and a high-level Taliban delegation and offered to help end the crisis in Afghanistan.
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Source: Ukrgate
