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Stanikzai urges US to reopen its embassy in Kabul
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, has called on the United States to reopen its embassy in Kabul.
“Let us fulfill our responsibilities. Come and open your embassy. We take care of your security. When you come, other countries will do the same. Now, many countries are saying in private meetings with us that if America restores its relations with you, we will come immediately,” Stanikzai said while visiting the Afghan Consulate in Dubai.
While the Islamic Emirate seeks to create positive interaction with the world in light of Islamic Sharia and national interests, the US says that no country is going to recognize the Islamic Emirate.
US charge d’affaires said in a virtual meeting with a number of Afghan women journalists that although some diplomatic missions of Afghanistan have been handed over to the Islamic Emirate, no country has any plans to recognize the Islamic Emirate.
Karen Decker said that if the Islamic Emirate wants good relations with other countries, they should have good relations with men and women in their country.
Deputy Spokesperson of US State Department, Vedant Patel, also said that to the extent that the IEA is looking for more normal relations with countries around the world, “that will not happen in a long time, so [long] as they continue to advance these repressive edicts against women and girls.”
At the same time, the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the continuation of restrictions on women will prevent the establishment of normal relations between the Islamic Emirate and countries around the world for a long time.
“We hope that they understand the implications of some of these disastrous decisions, like banning women from schools and things of that sort,” Patel said.
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly stated that the policy of pressure in Afghanistan does not work and that countries should engage with Afghanistan as Kabul wants to establish relations with all countries, including the United States.
“Political issues or external issues of the country should not be dependent on Afghanistan’s internal issues. Afghanistan’s internal issues are related to the people of Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan make independent decisions about the country’s internal issues,” said Bilal Karimi, IEA’s deputy spokesperson.
In recent months, the Afghan embassy in Tehran, the Afghan consulate in Dubai, and the Afghan consulate in Istanbul have been handed over to the Islamic Emirate.
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Azizi meets Chinese envoy to discuss expanding trade and investment in Afghanistan
Nooruddin Azizi, Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, met with Yu Xiaoyong, China’s Special Representative in Kabul, to discuss expanding trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, the ministry said.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce issued on Wednesday, Azizi said Afghanistan offers a secure and favorable environment for investment and invited Chinese investors to explore opportunities across various sectors of the Afghan economy.
He also stressed the need to increase and facilitate Afghan exports to China, particularly products such as cotton, pomegranates, pine nuts, and precious and semi-precious stones. Azizi called for improved customs, transit, and transportation facilities to strengthen trade between the two countries.
Yu, for his part, noted the growing interest of Chinese traders and investors in the Afghan market, describing Afghanistan as a country with significant untapped investment potential within China’s broader economic strategy.
Both sides emphasized the importance of closer cooperation between relevant institutions in the two countries to facilitate trade and promote investment, according to the statement.
Business
Uzbekistan ratifies preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has officially ratified the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The agreement was first signed on 10 June 2025 during the Tashkent International Investment Forum by Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Laziz Kudratov and Afghanistan’s Minister Nuriddin Azizi, Uzbekistan Daily reported.
The PTA eliminates tariffs on 14 categories of goods, simplifies the issuance of phytosanitary permits for Afghan agricultural products, and introduces additional support measures for Uzbek exporters.
In February 2026, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev held online talks with Azizi to accelerate the agreement’s entry into force, advance investment projects, and promote industrial cooperation. A new joint business forum is planned to take place in Kabul after the conclusion of Ramadan.
The agreement is expected to strengthen bilateral trade, boost economic ties, and create new opportunities for Afghan businesses and exporters.
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Afghan refugees in Iran face ‘impossible choices,’ UNHCR official warns
A senior official from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says many Afghans living in Iran are facing increasingly difficult decisions as insecurity and economic hardship deepen across the region.
Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that Afghans in Iran are caught between two difficult realities: remaining in Iran amid growing instability and economic strain, or returning to Afghanistan where many also face uncertainty and insecurity.
“At the moment, it seems to be more of a preemptive move,” Jamal said, referring to Afghans leaving Iran. “People are describing bombs falling around them. There is a great deal of fear, but they are also describing a dysfunctional economy.”
According to Jamal, approximately 110,000 Afghans have returned from Iran so far this year, many driven by fear of escalating conflict and deteriorating living conditions.
“For these people there are no good choices,” he said. “They are fleeing one war only to come to another,” Jamal added, referring to ongoing cross-border tensions and military activity involving Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The UNHCR official noted that the current wave of returns follows an already unprecedented movement of people.
In 2025, around 2.8 million Afghans returned to Afghanistan, making it the largest refugee return movement in the world that year.
Humanitarian agencies warn that Afghanistan is struggling to absorb such large numbers of returnees, particularly as the country faces widespread poverty, limited employment opportunities, and reduced international aid.
Jamal also cautioned that the United Nations currently lacks sufficient funding to maintain long-term assistance programs for returning refugees.
Without additional financial support, aid organizations may struggle to provide housing, food, and basic services to the growing number of returnees arriving in Afghanistan.
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