Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Kabul on Sunday to meet with the leadership of the Taliban terrorists controlling Afghanistan, his first official visit to the country and the first by an Iranian foreign ministry to post-2021 Afghanistan.
Araghchi reportedly discussed Iranian-Afghan border issues such as shared access to the water of the Helmand River, illegal Afghan migration into Iran, and bilateral trade. Both rogue governments depicted the visit as friendly and positive, an improvement in relations from the first several years of Taliban rule in which the two countries fought fiercely, sometimes with deadly consequences, over water access.
The timing of the visit is notable as the Taliban – while being widely accepted as the de facto, if not legitimate, government of Afghanistan – is facing renewed condemnation of its atrocious human rights record. International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Taliban “supreme leader” Haibatullah Akhundzada and his top judge, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, last week on charges of crimes against humanity for their harrowing abuses against women and girls.
The Taliban’s Bakhtar News propaganda outlet reported that Araghchi used his visit to meet with top Taliban diplomatic officials, including Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund and the acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Foreign Ministry official Zakir Jalali was quoted in Taliban coverage as celebrating “the strong ties between Afghanistan and Iran” following the meeting.
Araghchi’s visit, Bakhtar claimed, was “seen as a significant opportunity for discussions on mutual interests and bilateral issues, involving both foreign ministers and senior officials from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” It noted that “economic cooperation” featured prominently in discussions.
Afghanistan’s Tolo News reported that Araghchi emphasized Iranian concerns about its national security in light of the enduring crisis of terrified Afghans fleeing the Taliban by crossing illegally into Iran. Araghchi described Iran as “dependent” on Afghanistan’s security and stability for its own given the geographic proximity to the country.
“In addition, issues related to Afghan migrants in Iran, water rights, Iran’s non-interference policy in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, and resolving challenges through dialogue were among the topics discussed and exchanged between the two sides,” Tolo reported.
Those reports are consistent with how Iranian state media covered the one-day trip. Iranian propaganda outlet PressTV described Iran’s top diplomat as having “lauded neighborly relations between Tehran and Kabul, calling for the expansion of economic ties to secure the national interests of the two Muslim countries.”
“Iran’s security and stability are dependent on the security and stability of Afghanistan,” Araghchi was quoted as saying.
Araghchi did not mention the ICC warrant requests or any other unfavorable developments for the two countries specifically – including, perhaps most prominently, the return of President Donald Trump to the White House – but “stressed the importance of bolstering cooperation with the ‘Islamic Emirate’ given the recent developments.” PressTV did not list any such recent developments adding urgency to improving the relationship.
“Araghchi stated that Iran’s security and stability depend on Afghanistan’s security and stability,” Tolo News quoted a Taliban official as sharing. “He also mentioned that recent developments in Afghanistan have led them to the conclusion that they should enhance their cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.”
Sharing water along the Helmand River remains the most difficult challenge for the terrorist group running Afghanistan and the world’s top sponsor of terrorism Iran to work together against their common enemies. Araghchi insisted in his visit, PressTV, reported, that “Iran has never sought to interfere in Afghanistan and call[ed] for the full implementation of the Hirmand River agreement signed between the two neighboring countries to resolve the water issue.”
The Hirmand River agreement is a 1973 deal to regulate sharing water along the mutual border. Iran regularly accuses Afghanistan of using its dam along the river to hoard water, threatening the wellbeing of Iranians on the other side of the border. Afghan leaders, both in the Taliban and prior to the Taliban’s 2021 conquest, often respond by insisting that drought conditions have limited the water supply and Afghanistan does not have more water access than Iran.
Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal repeated those assurances on Sunday.
“The acting Foreign Minister [Muttaqi] stated that climate change has caused drought across the region, and Afghanistan is also a victim of these conditions,” Takal told reporters. “He mentioned that we consider the people of Helmand, Nimroz, [in Afghanistan, and] Sistan, and Baluchistan [in Iran] equally and strive to ensure water reaches both sides. This issue has no other obstacles and depends solely on rainfall levels.”
Iran and Afghanistan under the Taliban both boast two of the world’s most atrocious records on human rights, particularly the rights of women. Both forces women to wear Islamic garb, though only a hijab is compulsory in Iran, while the Taliban has effectively banned women from leaving their homes entirely and, in the few cases where leaving the house is permitted, they are expected to wear full burqa coverings.
ICC prosecutor listed the restrictions on women leaving the house on a long list of human rights crimes against women in his statement on warrant requests for Taliban leaders, such as violations of “the right to physical integrity and autonomy, to free movement and free expression, to education, to private and family life, and to free assembly.”
“These applications recognize that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban,” Khan’s statement, published on Thursday, read. “Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable. Afghan survivors, in particular women and girls, deserve accountability before a court of law.”
Afghanistan is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, and thus is subject to its jurisdiction. Iran is not and thus would not be obligated to arrest Taliban officials if the court issues the warrants. While typically ignoring, if not outright condemning, international human rights bodies, Iran supported the ICC following its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Khan claimed Israel was committing genocide in its self-defense operations against the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hamas.
“The (ICC) arrest warrant is not enough, Netanyahu’s death sentence must be ordered,” Iranian “Supreme Leader’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared in November, following the issuance of arrest warrants. The ICC does not have the power to sentence defendants to capital punishment.
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