Taliban using Afghan diplomatic missions to gain recognition

Mohamed Youssri

International recognition is a top priority for the Taliban movement since it came to power in Afghanistan.

The movement still tries to reach this recognition by all available direct or even indirect methods.

Since the first day of its assumption of power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has begun acting at all levels to gain international recognition.

This included the movement’s early messages to the United Nations.

It has resorted to another ploy, namely dominating Afghan embassies abroad.

Responsibility

The Taliban has recently begun to trend towards dominating Afghan embassies abroad.

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced on March 14 that the movement tries to take more responsibility for Afghan embassies in other countries.

Mujahid confirmed that his movement had sent its diplomats to at least 14 countries.

This comes within the framework of the Taliban’s efforts to impose its sovereignty on the diplomatic missions in these countries.

He explained that the diplomats of the former government maintain their activities in coordination with the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry.

The countries to which the Taliban sent its diplomats included Iran, Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, China, and Tajikistan, along with a number of Arab and African countries.

The movement had earlier sent a number of its diplomats to both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Early on, the movement saw the adoption of its representative in Russia.

Nevertheless, the Taliban’s drive to assert its control over Afghan embassies abroad comes amid objection from the representatives of the previous government, including the former Afghan envoy to the United Nations, who said he would not allow the Taliban to occupy those embassies.

Previous steps

In mid-February, Iranian authorities announced the handover of the Afghan embassy in Tehran to representatives of the Taliban.

Zakir Jalali, adviser to the foreign minister in the Afghan government of the Taliban, said seven Taliban diplomats arrived in Tehran on February 27 to receive their duties at the embassy.

He explained that this measure is important so as not to disrupt the work of the embassy in Tehran.

On the same day, Jalali referred on Twitter to a similar procedure at the Afghan consulate in Istanbul.

He noted that the building was handed over to the mission sent by the movement earlier.

Soft action

Regarding these measures, Asian affairs specialist, Mohamed al-Sayed, said the Taliban tries to impose a de facto policy by declaring its dominance over Afghan diplomatic missions abroad.

“This soft action by the Taliban is an attempt to obtain a minimum of international recognition, allowing its representatives to deal with these countries as spokesmen for Afghanistan,” al-Sayed told The Reference.