US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has agreed to testify publicly at a House of Representatives committee hearing on the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

According to the committee, chair Michael McCaul, Blinken had committed to appear at a public hearing on December 11 to discuss the committee's investigation of the withdrawal three years ago.

The committee and the State Department have been wrangling over Blinken's appearance for months.

Panel Republicans voted in September to recommend Blinken be held in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena.

The State Department contended that the panel was provided with large amounts of information, with Blinken testifying before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times and the department providing nearly 20,000 pages of records, multiple high-level briefings and transcribed interviews, Reuters reported.

McCaul released a report on September 8 on the committee Republicans' investigation of the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, blasting Democratic President Joe Biden's administration for failures surrounding the evacuation.

The issue had become intensely politicized before the presidential election on November 5.

In his successful bid for a second term, Republican former President Donald Trump drew criticism for shooting a video for his campaign at Arlington National Cemetery where he appeared at a ceremony honoring troops killed in the evacuation, Reuters reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei has emphasized that the change of Iran's envoy to Afghanistan is quite normal, and rejected recent claims that its an indication of a reshaping of Tehran’s policy toward its neighboring country.

According to Baghaei, changes in Iran’s envoys and diplomatic and consular missions are routine and occur at specific intervals, IRNA news agency reported.

This comes two days after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appointed Alireza Bikdeli as the head of the Iranian mission in Kabul.

Bikdeli replaces Hassan Kazemi Qomi and previously served as the deputy foreign minister for consular affairs and as Iran's ambassador in Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Cyprus.

A group of Russian lawmakers submitted a draft bill to the lower house of parliament on Tuesday that if passed will result in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) being removed from Russia’s list of terrorist organizations. 

If approved, the legislation will allow the IEA to be delisted as a banned group if it “stops carrying out activities aimed at promoting, justifying, and supporting terrorism," Russian media reported. 

The bill was submitted by seven senators and five Duma members from the ruling United Russia party and the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).

The IEA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Canada along with other countries, who have also not yet recognized the ruling government. 

Russia has however been strengthening ties with the IEA, both politically and economically over the past three years. 

Earlier this week, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Afghanistan and said that the removal of the IEA from the list of terrorist groups is in its "final stage."

"Let me confirm our readiness to establish a constructive political dialogue between our countries and among the goals would be providing an impulse for the process of a settlement among Afghans," Shoigu reportedly said.

"We have tried to ensure conditions for a growth in exports of Afghan goods and a growth in foreign investment."

Currently, Russian legislation does not provide for a mechanism allowing for the suspension of a ban on the activities of a banned organization. The proposed bill should eliminate this legal gap.