TEHRAN -- Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Sunday said Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran will continue to operate within the constraints of the 1961 Vienna convention.
Saeed Khatibzadeh responded to reports carried by certain media outlets alleging that the Iranian government is planning to hand over the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban.
“The diplomatic activities of the Afghan embassy in Tehran, like all foreign embassies, fall within the framework of the principles and rules defined by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and no developments are possible to take place outside” them, Khatibzadeh said.
On Saturday, Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in Tehran at the head of a high-ranking delegation to hold talks with Iranian officials in a first such trip since the group seized power in Afghanistan.
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, economic cooperation between the two countries was to be discussed with the Afghan delegation, which included caretakers of the ministries of economy, industry, and trade of Afghanistan as well as deputies of several ministries.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized the need to maintain economic and trade relations between the two countries in the interests of the people of the neighboring country (Afghanistan), especially in the current situation,” the ministry’s public relations department said in a statement.
During the trip, it said, agreements would be reached on various economic and trade issues such as banking cooperation, cross-border markets, mining, trade, and sports cooperation.
The Taliban took control of the Afghan government in mid-August last year, in the midst of the United States’ hasty, reckless withdrawal of its forces from the country.
Since the takeover, Iran has consistently highlighted the importance of the establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan through the formation of an inclusive government in the war-ravaged country.
Tehran has also called for a boost to international humanitarian efforts for Afghanistan, saying the “very small” volume of international aid for Afghan refugees does not help much.
The U.S. military led the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in what it proselytized as a war on terror meant to eradicate the Taliban.