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ICC members banned from entering United States

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A number of members of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who had launched investigations into US war crimes in Afghanistan, have been sanctioned by the United States.

US President Donald Trump has boycotted the court's officials who have launched investigations into US war crimes in Afghanistan and banned them, and their families, from entering the United States.

The court, in response to remarks by US officials, noted them an unacceptable interference to the judiciary.

This comes as the International Criminal Court (ICC) has recently launched an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan forces, the US military, and intelligence.

The investigation has provoked a backlash from the US president, defense secretary, secretary of state, and a number of other US military and civilian officials.

They consider the ICC as incompetent.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “The United States is expanding visa restrictions for officials directly engaged in those same investigations.  We’re extending and expanding these restrictions to include their family members. We cannot, we will not stand by as our people are threatened by a kangaroo court.”

U.S. officials have also accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) officials of being politically biased and financially corrupt, saying the court does not have the necessary authorizations.

“The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, nor have we ever accepted its jurisdiction over our personnel,” said the US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

However, the ICC found the United States' response as improper, as the court believes that the warnings are an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rules of the judiciary.

The White House Advisor and the US Attorney General also see the move by the International Criminal Court as a political conspiracy by a number of countries against the United States.

The US Attorney General is concerned about the investigation into the actions of the US military in Afghanistan, which according to him were actions to fight terrorism and attempts to bring peace.

But the main question, that remains unanswered, is: why do the US officials not want the court to investigate into their forces?

The International Criminal Court, established in 2002, is the first court to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide around the world.

It is worth noting that Afghanistan became a member of the court in 2003.

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A high-level Russian delegation will soon visit Kabul: envoy

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit

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Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul that a high-level Russian delegation will visit Kabul in the near future to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Muttaqi described the relations between the Islamic Emirate and Russia as important, stressing that the ties should be expanded to include economic and trade cooperation.

He said visits to Kabul by high-level officials was important, adding that during the past year, many officials of the Islamic Emirate have been invited to Russia to attend international meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat said that his country wants to expand its relations with Afghanistan in the economic and trade sectors.

This comes on the heels of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko’s comments that the completion of legal procedures to remove the Islamic Emirate from Moscow’s terrorist list will provide positive impetus to Russian-Afghan relations.

In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, published early Sunday, Rudenko said “removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement (Islamic Emirate) will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres, in the economy in the first instance."

"As regards the issue of the official recognition of current Afghan authorities, it is early to talk about it thus far. Let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes," Rudenko noted.

Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 but the IEA is still officially outlawed in Russia.

In response to Russia’s comments last month, the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate “appreciates the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon."

 

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Iran appoints new ambassador to Afghanistan

Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran’s former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country’s new ambassador to Kabul

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Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran's former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to Kabul, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The outlet added that the post of the Iranian presidential special representative in Afghanistan has been removed and, as before, the special representative for Afghanistan will act directly under the supervision of the foreign minister.

It is worth mentioning that Hassan Kazemi Qomi previously served as Iran's ambassador and presidential special representative in Afghanistan.

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Iran to Host ECO Ministerial Meeting next week

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The 28th meeting of the foreign ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states will be held in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad next week.

Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said on Sunday that the upcoming meeting will be attended by the ministers and senior officials of ECO, directors of the regional specialized departments of the organization, and the secretaries general of a number of multilateral economic organizations.

The meeting will be chaired by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iranian local media reported.

Iran is holding the rotating presidency of ECO in 2024.

The Tehran-headquartered ECO was established by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey in 1985.

The main purpose of the organization is to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.

In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

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