Ariana: Two new key trade corridors between Iran and Central Asian countries, through Afghanistan, have been launched and are expected to considerably boost trade activities in the region. According to Ruhollah Latifi, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the two corridors are the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran (KTAI) route and the Iran-Afghanistan-Uzbekistan corridor. He
Ariana: Afghanistan’s ambassador to Iran, Ghafour Lewal, said Saturday that Afghan refugees in Iran would be legalized. Lewal, who met with Iranian officials said the refugees would be issued ID cards and electronic passports by Afghan officials. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: United States intelligence agencies found that Iran paid Taliban fighters bounties to kill American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, CNN reported Monday afternoon. According to CNN a Pentagon briefing document, reviewed by news organization, stated bounties were paid by a foreign government to Haqqani network, which is led by the second highest-ranking Taliban leader.
Ariana: Iranian authorities have arrested a group of Afghans who waved a flag in celebration of Eid al-Adha in a park in Tehran. MENAFM reported that Iranian intelligence and police officials confirmed to local media outlets that the security forces arrested the group during an operation. The Iranian authorities reportedly acted to detain the Taliban supporters
Tehran Times: Iran’s embassy in Kabul has issued a statement reiterating support for peace talks in Afghanistan led by the Afghan leaders. The statement came as a response to a claim made by Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States’ chief negotiator with the Afghan Taliban, about Iran’s lack of support for a U.S.-led attempt to get
Ariana: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a recent report that although Afghanistan has traditionally relied on Pakistan as a gateway to international shipping routes, recent trends indicate that 70 percent of Afghan transit trade is now diverted through Iran. The ADB’s Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring (CPMM) Annual Report 2019, published this week,
Tolo News: A key member of the Taliban’s political office in Doha has blamed the Afghan government for delays in the intra-Afghan negotiations that are aimed at ending the decades of war in the country. The talks were expected to begin 10 days after the Feb. 29 deal between the US and the Taliban, but
By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 12, 2020 The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was backed by most countries in the region, who shared the goal of ousting the extremist Taliban regime and eliminating the allied Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The governments in Tehran, Moscow, and Islamabad readily helped the United States fight the
Frud Bezhan Shapoor Saber Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 24, 2020 Celebrated Afghan scholar Najib Mayel Heravi has lived in neighboring Iran for nearly 50 years, penning scores of acclaimed books and other treatises on ancient Persian manuscripts, literature, and Islamic mysticism. The 68-year-old native of Herat in western Afghanistan has an Iranian wife, and
Future Directions: Increasingly frequent droughts are causing tension between Afghanistan and Iran over control of surface water resources. The Helmand River is a particular source of discontent between the two countries, with each claiming that the other takes more water than they have the right to under a 1973 water-sharing agreement. According to Iran, Afghanistan’s