Solar year 1403 (March 21, 2024 to March 20, 2025) has been yet another year of political isolation and non-recognition for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government.

It was also another year that the United Nations refused to hand over Afghanistan’s seat at the UN.

No country has yet officially recognized the IEA government and added to this, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor submitted a request for the arrest of the Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader.

Despite this however, the Islamic Emirate views 1403 as a year with many achievements.

Officials have said the government has made good progress in many sectors. They feel they have strengthened ties and expanded interaction with many countries in the region and around the world.

The IEA has in fact said that relations which many countries have with Afghanistan are tantamount to them recognizing the Islamic Emirate.

Establishing an inclusive government, respecting human rights, especially the rights of women and minorities, and combating terrorist groups and drugs have always been considered important preconditions for the international community to recognize the Islamic Emirate.

In addition to the Islamic Emirate’s failure to achieve global legitimacy, the pressures and sanctions of the international community against the Islamic Emirate continued.

During this year, for the first time, Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, submitted a request to the court to arrest the leader of the Islamic Emirate and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court.

The request, which the Islamic Emirate considered to be without a fair legal basis, resulted from political moves,they said. This led the IEA to cancel Afghanistan’s ICC membership.

During 1403, however, high-level delegations from a number of countries continued to visit Afghanistan, and delegations from the Islamic Emirate also traveled to neighboring countries and the region.

Late this year, Iran’s Foreign Minister led a high-level delegation to Kabul and met with the Prime Minister and a number of other senior officials. This was a visit that both sides declared the start of a new chapter in relations between Kabul and Tehran.

On the other hand, former government officials, lawyers and some politicians who fled Afghanistan when the former government collapsed, continued to return home.

But, the IEA’s cabinet remained in a caretaker capacity in 1403.

The Supreme Leader of the IEA Hibatullah Akundzada meanwhile visited the northern provinces of the country for the first time since August 2021 and encouraged local officials to serve the people honestly.

Many meetings held in Kabul and in provinces about the need for officials and people to support the system.

The Deputy Prime Minister for Economics said at a recent meeting of the Shiite community in Kabul that the Islamic Emirate respects ethnic diversity and considers it a symbol of unity in the country.

Nevertheless, the Islamic Emirate considers the year 1403 to be a year of achievements in the political sphere and emphasizes that good progress has been made during the year in the field of expanding diplomatic relations with countries in the region and the world.

The Islamic Emirate meanwhile continues to call on the international community and countries to abandon the politics of force and pressure and instead establish interactive relations with the Islamic Emirate.

The IEA continues to emphasize that it has fulfilled all the conditions of a legitimate state, but the United Nations is making excuses in the matter of handing over Afghanistan’s seat at the UN.

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi has called on Pakistan to stop making decisions that harm ordinary people.

This comes after Pakistan closed Torkham border crossing last month. The key border was closed to trade and people for 25 days and only partially reopened on Wednesday. Goods trucks were allowed to cross the border from Wednesday but the border will only reopen for people on Friday.

The closure of this busy trade route cost local business owners millions of dollars in losses, especially those trading in perishable goods.

Hosting an iftar reception for foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Kabul, Muttaqi said that Torkham crossing reopened following talks between the two countries.

He said that Afghanistan has no problems with neighboring countries and if any problems arise, they will be resolved through talks.

“We hope that issues with our neighboring country Pakistan will be resolved the same way and problems will end,” he said.

Muttaqi also said that the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan should happen in a gradual and dignified manner.

This comes after Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday called on Pakistan to immediately stop forcing Afghan refugees to return home.

In their latest report, HRW slammed Pakistan for having stepped up pressure on Afghan refugees and using “intensified abusive tactics” to get them to leave the country.

On January 31, 2025, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior announced that Afghans without official residence documents, along with holders of Afghan Citizen Cards, must leave the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi or face deportation. Afghans holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards must leave by June 30.

A previous wave of deportations and expulsions, from September 2023 through January 2024, drove over 800,000 Afghans – many born in Pakistan or living there for decades – to Afghanistan.

Since November 2024, Pakistani authorities have renewed pressure to expel Afghans. More than 70 percent of those returning have been women and children, including girls of secondary school age and women who will no longer have access to education.

HRW stated that Pakistani police have raided houses, beat and arbitrarily detained people, and confiscated refugee documents, including residence permits.

They have demanded bribes to allow Afghans to remain in Pakistan. The United Nations reported that most Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan have cited fear of detention by Pakistani authorities as the reason they left.

Returning refugees have generally had to abandon property and savings in Pakistan, and have few livelihood opportunities or little land in Afghanistan.

The process of transferring Afghan prisoners in Iran began on Tuesday, March 20, in the presence of Fazal Mohammad Haqqani, the acting head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran, and officials from the Ministry of Justice of the host country.

On the first day, 149 Afghan prisoners were transferred to Afghanistan after their identities were verified.

These prisoners are scheduled to serve the remaining term of their sentences in Afghan prisons in accordance with the laws of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

A second group of prisoners was sent to Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The Convict Transfer Committee of the Ministry of Justice of the host country is also scheduled to continue this process after the Eid al-Fitr holidays.