Islamic State leaders and fighters have recently moved to Afghanistan from Iraq, Syria and parts of Libya, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned, Afghan media outlet Tolo News reported on July 21.

If confirmed, the claim would correspond to longstanding fears of militant Islamist terrorist groups choosing to make Afghanistan their jihadist theatre of operations of choice—one focus of a bne IntelliNews feature in August 2021, following the US exit from Afghanistan.

Amir-Abdollahian was reported as saying that the shifting of leaders of Islamic State—an enemy of Iran, which was instrumental in crushing the group in Iraq and parts of Syria—to Afghanistan has become one of the main challenges faced by the interim Afghan government run by the Taliban, whom Islamic State regards as a foe.

Tolo News reported that the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate was yet to react to Amir-Abdollahian’s remarks.

The publication also quoted Janat Fahim Chakari, a political analyst, as saying that security is presently an achievement of Afghanistan.

“The regional countries should not be worried. They should focus on their internal issues. The only achievement that Afghanistan has right now is security,” he was reported as saying. “If any terrorist groups seek to conduct destructive actions, it [sic] is suppressed by the ruling government.”

Amir-Abdollahian was also quoted as voicing concerns that any kind of instability in Afghanistan would directly affect the border region with Iran.

Also, he was said to have raised concerns about flows of Afghan refugees to Iran, stressing the need for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. It is the lack of such an administration that is a big factor in Tehran not recognising the Taliban’s Emirate, which has in fact not won recognition from any country to date.

Iran, like Tajikistan, is particularly concerned for the plight of the Persian-speaking minority peoples of Afghanistan under the Taliban.

July 17 brought a report from RFE/RL on how Afghanistan's historically persecuted Shi'ite Hazara, one of the Persian-speaking minorities, have accused the Sunni Taliban regime of backtracking on promises to protect them and preserve their right to freely observe their faith.

During the Taliban’s first ruling regime, which existed from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban terrorised the Hazara, wresting control of Hazara regions through a campaign of targeted killings. After regaining power in August 2021, the largely Pushtun Taliban attempted to ease the Hazaras' fears of discrimination and persecution. Taliban fighters even protected mosque ceremonies marking the Shi'ite month of Muharram. However, RFE/RL reported on how the Hazara feel that they are once again being targeted by the Taliban.

The Shi'ite community has also accused the Taliban of failing to prevent deadly attacks on Hazaras by an Islamic State offshoot, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist group, while rights groups have documented forced evictions of Hazaras by the Taliban in several provinces.

"The Taliban are becoming increasingly intolerant of public expressions and displays of the Shi'ite religious faith," Niamatullah Ibrahimi, senior lecturer at Australia's La Trobe University, was cited as saying, adding: "If it becomes a pattern, it will clearly limit the religious freedom of Shi'a, especially ceremonies that are often public in nature."

BBC Persia reported Taliban fighters on July 7 prevented Shi'ite residents in Kabul from publicly celebrating Eid al-Ghadir, a festival celebrating what Shi'a believe is the day that the Prophet Muhammad declared Ali, a cousin and son-in-law, his successor. The contrasting Sunni belief is that Abu Bakr, the first Muslim caliph, was the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad.

A census has never been conducted, but Shi'a are believed to constitute around 15% of Afghanistan's 40mn largely Sunni people. Hazaras account for the overwhelming majority of Shi'a in the country.

The Taliban run a theocratic government that does not include women and has just a few non-Pashtuns.

"There are deep fears within the [Shi’a] community that this could be only the beginning of systematic discrimination against the Shi’a and the representation of their understanding of Islam in the country's laws, society, and politics," Ibrahimi was quoted as saying by RFE/RL.