Iran to handover Afghan Embassy in Tehran to Taliban

Iran will officially hand over the embassy to the Taliban in the coming days according to an Afghan diplomat who has been in contact with the officials of the Iranian foreign ministry.

This comes after the Taliban-run foreign ministry stated in a letter that it had appointed Mohammad Afzal Haqqani as designated ambassador to Tehran, reported Khaama Press.

The letter noted that Haqqani, as the first secretary of the embassy, will be in charge of the diplomatic mission in Iran.

Initially, Haqqani had travelled from Tehran to Kabul and then returned with his letter of appointment as head of the Afghan Embassy in Tehran. However, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had not accepted Haqqani as the new ambassador to Tehran, reported Khaama Press.

Now, a serious decision has been taken in this regard the Afghan diplomat said.

The Taliban-run administration has neither internal legitimacy nor international recognition. So far, no single country in the world has recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

Iran is the third country to join Pakistan and Russia which handed over the Afghan embassies to the group a few months ago.

Meanwhile, Taliban has called on the international community to recognise the "Islamic Emirate" of Afghanistan, claiming that if recognised, the concerns and complaints of the world community will be addressed in a better way, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.

"The Islamic Emirate will be paying more attention to its responsibilities and the complaints we have among ourselves or from other countries will be addressed in a good way. Because one side will feel itself responsible regarding the laws and regulation," Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, as quoted by Tolo News.

According to analysts, forming an inclusive government, countering terrorism, not allowing the use of Afghan soil against other countries, and ensuring human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, will pave the ground for recognition of the Islamic Emirate.

"To earn recognition, the Taliban should refer to the people first. They should observe law, politics and governance. They should recognize the rights of the people," said Sayed Jawad Sijadi, a political analyst, according to Tolo News.

While, the Taliban have prohibited co-education in universities, separating morning classes for girls and afternoon classes for boys. Recently, the group also banned secondary education for female students. Although this decision has been withdrawn, the schools are yet to be reopened. (ANI)