Asia

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has called on China to facilitate the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccines to the Islamic Republic as soon as possible.

An Afghanistan affairs analyst says what happened in Afghanistan, and the Taliban’s takeover in a matter of days, had been agreed in a deal among US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, during the Afghan peace talks with the militants in the Qatari capital Doha.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman says the Islamic Republic welcomes a peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan through its newly-established strategic council of top leaders, and hopes all parties resolve the current problems through talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has held talks with China’s special envoy on Afghanistan Yue Xiaoyong in Tehran, where they discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan and exchanged the viewpoints of Iran and China on the matter as two of Afghanistan's neighbours. 

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says the country has drawn down personnel at its political missions in Afghanistan amid fresh developments on the ground in the country.

Iran’s embassy in Tokyo says Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is going to visit Tehran in the near future.

Iran has, in a virtual ceremony, signed with Indonesia a contract to export the domestically-made Sina surgeon robot to the Southeast Asian country and establish two advanced tele-robotic surgery skills centres there.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has held talks with UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Jean Arnault, who has travelled to Tehran heading a delegation to exchange views with Iranian foreign ministry officials.

Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, the Iranian Foreign Minister's special envoy for Afghanistan affairs, had a phone conversation with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held talks with Shahriar Alam, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, who is in Tehran on behalf of his government to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says regional security should be ensured by countries in the region.

and armed group occupies a large part of Afghanistan these days, and now they have reached the mountainous Badakhshan province on the border with China.

These days, there is fear, more than ever, of Afghanistan reverting to what it was in the years from 1996 to 2001 when art and the artists’ right to survive was threatened.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy, who is visiting Uzbekistan to attend the International Conference on Central and South Asia Regional Connectivity, Challenges and Opportunities, has called for a focus on cultural commonalities to enhance regional cooperation.

Mohammad-Ebrahim Taherian, the Iranian Foreign Minister's special envoy for Afghanistan affairs, has held phone talks with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai on the latest security developments in the country and the current situation in Afghanistan.

As the Taliban is seizing more and more areas in Afghanistan, many criticize Iran’s move to hold talks between Afghan groups in Tehran, but political experts believe that the Taliban must be accepted as a reality in this country and the neighbours must define a strategy to deal with them.

Iran’s government spokesman says the country is ready to react, if need be, amid the presence of Taliban forces along the Afghan-Iranian borders.

The Afghan government seems to be rolling out the red carpet for the Taliban by removing the Dari Persian language from the signs of Khost International Airport, which was recently opened by President Ashraf Ghani.

A senior member of Taliban has warned that refusal to pledge allegiance to the group's ruler will be considered as apostasy, as the militant group moves to take over the entire Afghanistan.

An Iranian expert on Afghanistan affairs says the people of Afghanistan are so disappointed with the pro-US government of Ashraf Ghani that they do not care if it is replaced by Taliban.

Iranian President-elect Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi says extensive economic interactions and collective security are the main priorities for Iran-India relations.

The Intra-Afghan Dialogue Summit, hosted by the Islamic Republic of Iran and attended by the representatives of the Kabul government and the high political delegation of Taliban, was opened on Wednesday morning with a speech by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Iran’s embassy in Tokyo says the first group of Iranian convicted prisoners in Japan have left for Tehran, as part of a previous prisoner exchange agreement with Japan.

Mohammad-Ebrahim Taherian, the Iranian Foreign Minister's special envoy for Afghanistan affairs who had left Kabul for Islamabad on Thursday for talks with Pakistani officials on the latest security developments in Afghanistan, returned to the Afghan capital on Friday to resume his meetings with the country's political and defence officials.

The Russian defence minister says it will not be possible to bring peace and stability back to Afghanistan without Iran and Pakistan’s support.