The poor treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran is adversely affecting bilateral ties and the public perception, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister Ameer Khan Muttaqi told the Iranian envoy, days after multiple reports and videos emerged of harassment of Afghan refugees in Iran.

Muttaqi said that a message should be delivered to the leadership in Iran to instruct relevant security authorities to stop abusing Afghan refugees, especially in border areas, says Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson of the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry. 

Recently, multiple videos emerged on social media of harassment and violence targeted at Afghan refugees in Iran emerged on social media platforms, outraging both Afghans and human rights activists. Amnesty International has also confirmed it has documented multiple cases of abuses by Iranian security forces. 

Since the Taliban takeover last year, over one million Afghans have sought refuge in Iran, taking the total number of Afghan refugees in the country to a whopping five million. 

Muttaqi in talks with the Iranian envoy said that the situation would allow some elements to conspire and create disputes. He also said that criminals posing as refugees do not represent all Afghan refugees.

According to the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, the Iranian ambassador to Kabul, Bahadur Aminian, said that some individuals launched a propaganda campaign to create division between the two countries, following Tuesday’s deadly stabbing at Imam Ali Reza's shrine in Iran. 

Iranian intelligence agencies later identified the assailant as a 21-year-old Uzbek national who crossed over to Iran across the border with Pakistan. 

(SAM)