The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, says the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) rulers have the opportunity to improve relations with the international community by reversing their decisions on education for girls and work for women.
In an interview with NDTV on Saturday, Lu said it is not too late for the IEA to close the gap between the Islamic Emirate and the international community.
“The United States government has been the leading bilateral donor to Afghanistan since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in August of 2021. We have committed more than 1.1 billion dollars for humanitarian assistance to the most at-risk Afghans but as you have said the decisions by the Taliban (IEA) last month to ban women and girls from universities and to ban women from working in international assistance organizations will have far-reaching negative consequences for Afghan Society,” said Lu.
“The United States is continuing to provide much-needed food assistance but even with that we are worried that with these new edicts, some of that assistance won’t reach women and children because women are not allowed to be part of the distribution Network,” he added.
“The Taliban (IEA) needs to think clearly about the welfare of the Afghan people during this very difficult winter and to make sure that they’re provided with the humanitarian assistance and support and educational opportunities that really all people on the planet deserve.”
In the meantime, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has also said that Tehran does not recognize the current government of Afghanistan, but has relations and interactions with them in various fields.
In a trip to Lebanon, Amir-Abdollahian said that banning girls’ education and women’s work is in conflict with Islamic teachings and values.
Experts meanwhile believe that the restrictions on women’s education and work are the Islamic Emirate’s way of stepping up pressure in order to gain legitimacy.
“The restrictions on women’s education by the Taliban are pressures, they try to use these pressures until the conditions for global legitimacy become favorable for them,” said Samad Karmand, a political analyst.—Ariana news
