Iran confirms Taliban diplomats stationed in Tehran Embassy
Tehran said the move to allow Taliban-appointed diplomats was not a step toward recognizing the current establishment in neighboring Afghanistan.
Iran has confirmed allowing Taliban diplomats at Afghanistan's Embassy in Tehran, insisting, however, that the decision is not meant to pave the way for official recognition of the Taliban as a government.
"We will not hand over the embassy to a government that we have not recognized," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh at a Tehran presser April 26.
Khatibzadeh noted that there is no ban on the entry of Taliban diplomats nor any plan to close the Afghan Embassy. He cited a backlog of consular cases at the Afghan mission and its need to boost staff amid an incessant influx of refugees crossing into Iran via the porous eastern border.
"Recognition [of the Taliban] is a different path," he added in an apparent attempt to clarify possible confusion arising from the Iranian approach. "The ruling body in Afghanistan will win recognition if showing responsible action."
