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Lavrov, Aragchi: Afghanistan situation of particular interest to both Russia and Iran
Tehran and Moscow are holding joint consultations on the situation in Afghanistan in various formats, alongside China and Pakistan
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said in a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday that developments in Afghanistan are of particular importance to both countries.
He also emphasized that Tehran and Moscow are holding joint consultations on the situation in Afghanistan in various formats, alongside China and Pakistan.
Lavrov said after meeting with Aragchi that the two diplomats discussed the success of the economic forum held in Iran in January “and discussed our relations with Afghanistan, with which we cooperate in a variety of formats, including the Moscow Format and a meeting between the countries neighbouring Afghanistan and the Big Four that includes China, Iran, Russia, and Pakistan.”
Lavrov was in Iran Tuesday for consultations with high-ranking Iranian officials.
Lavrov’s Iranian counterpart, Aragchi said the Afghanistan situation has been of close interest to both countries over the years.
“The developments in Afghanistan are of interest to us and Russia. Our talks have always continued in this regard, and we intend to consult each other more on this issue,” he said.
Experts have highlighted the role of Iran and Russia in Afghanistan’s foreign policy as important, saying that Kabul’s good relations with neighboring countries and the region can be constructive for the future of Afghanistan.
Although Russia and Iran have not yet recognized the Islamic Emirate, they have maintained close relations with the Islamic Emirate government.
Tehran has consistently emphasized resolving the issue of Afghanistan’s legitimacy through regional consensus and full political inclusion in Afghanistan.
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Japan allocates nearly $20 million in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
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Afghan border forces prevent illegal entry of hundreds into Iran
Security forces at the Islam Qala border in Herat province prevented hundreds of young Afghans from illegally entering Iran.
Officials from the 207 Al-Farooq Army Corps said that around 530 people attempted over the past two days to illegally enter Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district in Herat, but border forces detained them and transferred them back to their original areas.
Meanwhile, officials in the local administration of Herat said that due to severe cold along the illegal migration route to Iran, three Afghan migrants have lost their lives in the Kohsan district of the province, and a shepherd has also died there for the same reason.
Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, spokesperson for the Herat governor’s office, said that some statistics and images shared on social media regarding the incident are not reliable.
According to him, further investigations are underway to determine whether any individuals have died on the other side of the border.
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US pauses green card lottery program after Brown University shooting
President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program, the Associated Press reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa beginning in 2000, according to an affidavit from a Providence police detective. In 2017, he was issued a diversity immigrant visa and months later obtained legal permanent residence status, according to the affidavit. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017.
The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.
Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.
Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.
While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred if they are enshrined in law, like the diversity visa lottery, or the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
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