Iran urges Taliban to inform border guards about boundaries

Iranian officials said the Islamic Republic expects Afghan officials to brief the country’s border guards well about geographical boundaries and borderlines to prevent any tensions along the common border.  

The request was voiced by Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Brigadier General Majid Mir-Ahmadi and Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in separate remarks in the aftermath of the armed clashes between Taliban forces and the Islamic Republic’s border guards on Sunday in the Iranian area of Hirmand, near the city of Doost Mohammad.

Brigadier General Mir-Ahmadi said that, according to reports, on Saturday, some Afghan border guards, heedless of the geographical boundaries, had perpetrated provocative actions in Zehak near the common border in southeastern Iran, saying the Iranian border police managed to control the situation and prevented tensions from escalating, Tasnim News Agency reported.

He regretted that on Sunday, in the same region, Afghan border forces made other provocative moves and fired some bullets at Iranian border guards, which was, this time, reciprocated by the Islamic Republic’s forces.

The clashes continued for an hour before coming to an end thanks to the management and domination of the Islamic Republic’s border police, he said. 

On Monday, Kanaani said Iran sees Afghanistan as its neighbor, brother and friend, and seeks to ensure peace and security on the common border, expressing hope that similar unfavorable events would not take place in the future.

He also called on the caretaker Taliban government to inform its border guards of the geographic boundaries and limits.