Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, has recently stated that although Afghanistan’s caretaker government has provided security for the Shia community over the past four years, their rights have not been respected.
Mr. Araghchi made these remarks in an interview with Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA, saying that while Iran maintains close cooperation with the current government, there is still distance when it comes to officially recognizing it.
The Foreign Minister also claimed that Iran’s border security has improved in the past four years and that Afghanistan’s caretaker government has ensured security “well.”
He further stressed that although the issue of Iran’s water rights from Afghanistan’s rivers has seen improvement under the current government, it still does not meet Iran’s expectations.
The Foreign Minister added that diplomatic relations between the two countries are ongoing and that “the current level of neighborly cooperation is acceptable.”
It is worth noting that over the past four years, Iran has engaged extensively in political and economic interactions with the Afghan government and has become the largest exporter of goods to Afghanistan.
However, during this period, the two sides have also faced tensions over water rights and border issues, with their forces clashing several times along the frontier.
Araghchi’s remarks about respecting the rights of Afghanistan’s Shia community come as the Shia Personal Status Law has been annulled and Ja‘fari jurisprudence books have been removed.
