Iran reopened its consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat, following last week's ouster of the hardline Taliban militia from the city, state radio reported. The consulate in Herat has taken up its activities in Herat again, Mohammad Alavizadeh, head of the consulate, told the radio.
The consulate was closed since May 4 because of attacks by the Taliban, He said, adding however it would take two months before the mission could start to issue entry visas for Afghans. Iran recalled its diplomats and closed the consulate in Herat after protesters attacked the mission following a bomb blast outside a mosque.
The Taliban blamed Iranian Shiite Muslim hardliners for the explosion in which an exiled Iranian Sunni Muslim scholar, Moussa Karimpour, and nine others were killed.
Iran denied involvement in the blast and demanded the arrest of those responsible for the attack on its consulate. Tehran has never recognised the Taliban and the Herat consulate was its only official link with the Sunni Islamic fundamentalist militia which seized power in Kabul in 1996.
On Saturday, the government-run Iran daily said Tehran would soon reopen its embassy in the Afghan capital.
Bureau Report