Faizurrahman Attaee has assumed his office as the acting consul of the Taliban in Mashhad, Iran, according to Iranian media reports on Tuesday.
Attae expressed his gratitude for the approval from the Islamic Republic of Iran to take on this position. However, Ahmad Masoumi Far, head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s office in the country’s northeast, clarified that the formal legal process for appointing the new Taliban consul in Mashhad has not yet been completed. The individual currently in charge is serving as a temporary head.
Masoumi Far stated, “It cannot be said that the Afghan consulate has been handed over to the Taliban. The previous consul’s mission ended long ago, and it was expected that a new individual would be introduced by the Taliban. The person introduced by the Taliban did not meet the requirements of the Vienna Convention, and thus the Iranian Foreign Ministry did not accept this individual.”
The appointment coincides with the visit of Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s deputy political chief, to Tehran. Kabir, who is on the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions list and prohibited from international travel, is visiting Iran at the invitation of the Iranian government to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president.
Some experts view this move by the new Iranian administration as a concession to the Taliban.
The Taliban delegation’s visit to Iran and the handover of the Afghan consulate in Mashhad have sparked reactions from several Iranian diplomats. Ali Mojani, a former Iranian diplomat in Kabul, noted on social media that the Taliban do not consider elections legitimate based on their leader’s fatwa, yet they participate in the inauguration of an elected president.
Mojani commented, “The Taliban is the only government that does not consider elections legitimate by their leader’s decree, yet they partake in an event that represents a model of religious democracy, unity, consensus, and inclusivity.”
In recent days, there has been an uptick in the detention, beating, and expulsion of Afghan migrants from Iran. Videos circulating on social media show Afghan citizens being severely beaten by Iranian police and locals, prompting strong reactions from human rights activists and protest movements.
Although Iran has had better relations with the Taliban in recent years, Afghan migrants report that their living conditions in Iran are deteriorating daily.
