Acting Minister of Justice Abdul Hakeem Sharei said in response to being sanctioned by the European Union, that the time will come for the Islamic Emirate to impose sanctions on others.

Speaking at an event at Kabul University on Saturday, Sharei described the ruling system in Afghanistan as strong and unique.

“If you and I are united and stand by this regime, I assure you that if they impose sanctions on us today, the day will come when we will impose sanctions on them,” Sharei stressed. 

He said despite the US’s defeat in Afghanistan, Washington has not stopped its enmity with Afghans, and the patrolling of American drones in Afghanistan’s air space has not stopped since the IEA’s takeover.

According to him, the IEA has told the US representative to Kabul that they have asked whether the drones are “chasing Daesh or the leaders of the Islamic Emirate.

“When you [Americans] failed in Afghanistan, the drones did not stop for half an hour, so how can I be sure that you [US] are following our elders or Daesh?” asked Sharei.

“The second issue is that you have set a reward for our elders’ heads, so how can I be sure that you are not after us or after them [Daesh]?”

Meanwhile, the Acting Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem also said at the event that Afghanistan has achieved much in the field of science, and that work on the curriculum is one of these achievements.

According to him, all departments are functioning and services are being provided, “as the people deserve”. 

On Thursday, EU member states approved sanctions against three senior IEA officials over restrictions imposed on women and girls.

The EU blacklisted acting IEA Minister of Education, Habibullah Agha, for implementing the IEA policy of denying girls access to secondary education by extending the ban on female students participating in secondary education beyond the sixth grade.

The EU also imposed sanctions on acting Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for having effectively used the legal system to implement gender-based repression against women by excluding female judges from the Afghan court system and systematically restricting women’s access to justice, the EU stated.

In addition, the EU also listed acting Minister of Justice Abdul Hakim Sharei, for effectively obstructed the licensing of female lawyers and women’s ability to receive legal representation, and removed women from positions within the justice system.

Blacklisted individuals have their assets frozen and are prohibited from traveling to the 27-nation EU as well as transiting through Union territories.