Moldovan President Maia Sandu has criticized the decision to issue visas to a delegation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), saying the visit resulted from government officials failing to understand Moldova’s policy toward the IEA.

Speaking on Jurnal TV, Sandu said a state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture had not checked the government’s position on relations with the IEA before submitting the visa request.

According to Sandu, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs processed the request based on the senior position of the official who submitted it, assuming that the request had already received the necessary approval.

The president described the incident as “shameful” and said disciplinary action should be taken against those responsible.

“Based on the information I have at the moment, a State Secretary from the Ministry of Agriculture did not check what the policy of the Republic of Moldova is regarding the Afghan regime. And this is strange. On the other hand, some officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when they received an official request from another ministry, assumed — even though the procedures did not require consultation — that this rather unusual request was supported and confirmed by a person holding a public position, by a State Secretary. The information did not reach other people, and this is how the incident happened,” Maia Sandu said.

Sandu said the government had informed her that disciplinary sanctions would follow to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Earlier, Moldova’s Agriculture State Secretary Vasile Sarban said the Afghan delegation’s visit was arranged following a request from a Moldovan company that produces phytosanitary products and exports them to Uzbekistan.

The company had expressed interest in expanding its market to Afghanistan. Afghan representatives then sought to visit Moldova to learn about the production of phytosanitary products, according to Sarban.

The delegation that travelled to Moldova was led by Deputy Agriculture Minister Sadr Azam Osmani.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defense agreement in Mecca on Friday, bringing together three Sunni Muslim countries allied with the United States amid escalating security challenges in the Middle East.

The agreement comes as regional tensions continue to rise following the February 28 U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Since then, Iran and allied groups have launched attacks against Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and disrupted energy shipments, intensifying instability across the region.

According to a joint statement, the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against aggression. It states that an armed attack on any one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all.

The statement did not provide details on the specific military commitments or obligations undertaken by each country. It said the agreement aims to enhance collective security and promote peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.

A Turkish official described the pact as purely defensive, saying it is not directed against any particular country, remains open to other regional states, and does not replace or override existing bilateral or multilateral defense arrangements.

The three countries are said to share concerns over the increasingly assertive military posture of both Israel and Iran, as regional instability deepens despite efforts by the United States to contain the crisis.