Afghanistan’s Embassy in Oman officially reopened on Tuesday, an Afghan diplomatic official says, highlighting the Taliban-led government’s growing acceptance among Gulf Arab nations.
The move, which was announced by Zia Ahmad Takal, a deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry, follows the United Arab Emirate’s acknowledgment of a Taliban-aligned ambassador last month. [1]
Takal confirmed that the embassy in Muscat had resumed operations this past Sunday, stating that “the work of the embassy is carried out regularly by diplomats of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
He added that “the resumption of embassy activities in cooperation with the host country will play a constructive role in strengthening the political, economic, social, and religious relations between Kabul and Muscat.”
Omani officials did not immediately confirm the Taliban’s statement.
The Taliban declared in July that they would no longer recognize the diplomatic missions set up by the former government, which fell in just a few days after the US withdrew completely from the Central Asian nation in 2021.
Worldwide, a vast majority of nations have refused to accept the new government as legitimate; however, according to the country’s foreign ministry, there are now 39 diplomatic missions under Taliban purview.
Over the last three years, the Taliban has made considerable attempts to solidify their control and achieve international legitimacy, but Western sanctions have kept the country’s economy largely isolated from international markets.
Despite the Taliban’s concerted effort to rebrand itself on the global stage to secure foreign investment from major regional powers such as China, experts have recently raised new concerns that the group may be rebuilding ties with terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. [3]