Middle East
Guess who India, Pakistan and Iran are all wooing? The Taliban | Taliban News
For a country whose government is not recognised by any nation, Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has had an unusually busy calendar in recent weeks.
He has hosted his counterpart from Pakistan, spoken on the phone with India’s foreign minister, and jetted to Iran and China. In Beijing, he also met the Pakistani foreign minister again. On Wednesday, he joined trilateral talks with delegations from Pakistan and China.
This, even though the ruling Taliban have historically had tense relations with most of these countries, and currently have taut ties with Pakistan, a one-time ally with whom trust is at an all-time low.
While neither the United Nations nor any of its member states formally recognise the Taliban, analysts say that this diplomatic overdrive suggests that the movement is far from a pariah on the global stage.
So why are multiple countries in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood queueing up to engage diplomatically with the Taliban, while avoiding formal recognition?
We unpack the Taliban’s latest high-level regional engagements and look at why India, Pakistan and Iran are all trying to befriend Afghanistan’s rulers, four years after they marched on Kabul and grabbed power.
Who did Muttaqi meet or speak to in recent weeks?
A timeline of Afghanistan’s recent diplomatic engagements:
April 19: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar travels with a high-level delegation to Kabul to meet Muttaqi and other Afghan officials. The two sides discussed an ongoing spat over Pakistan’s repatriation of Afghan refugees, bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
May 6: Dar and Muttaqi spoke again on what turned out to be the eve of India’s attack on Pakistan, leading to four days of missile and drone attacks between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The exchange of fire took place after India accused Pakistan of being involved in the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which left 26 people dead.
May 15: India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar holds a phone conversation with Muttaqi to express his gratitude for the Taliban’s condemnation of the Pahalgam attacks.
May 17: Muttaqi arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran to attend the Tehran Dialogue Forum, where he also holds meetings with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Massoud Pazeshkian.
May 21: Muttaqi visits Beijing. Trilateral talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan and China take place aimed at boosting trade and security between the three countries.
Head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Qatar, Suhail Shaheen said the group is a “reality of today’s Afghanistan” as it “controls all territory and borders of the country”.
“The regional countries know this fact and, as such, they engage with the Islamic Emirate at various levels, which is a pragmatic and rational approach in my view,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the name by which the Taliban refers to the current Afghan state.
“We believe it is through engagement that we can find solutions to issues,” he added, arguing that formal recognition of the Taliban government “not be delayed furthermore”.
“Our region has its own interests and goals that we should adhere to.”
Why is India warming up to the Taliban?
It’s an unlikely partnership. During the Taliban’s initial rule between 1996 and 2001, the Indian government refused to engage with the Afghan group and did not recognise their rule, which at the time was only recognised by Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
India, which had supported the earlier Soviet-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah, shut down its embassy in Kabul once the Taliban came to power: It viewed the Taliban as a proxy of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, which had supported the mujahideen against Moscow.
Instead, New Delhi supported the anti-Taliban opposition group, the Northern Alliance.
Following the United States-led ousting of the Taliban in 2001, India reopened its Kabul embassy and became a significant development partner for Afghanistan, investing more than $3bn in infrastructure, health, education and water projects, according to its Ministry of External Affairs.
But its embassy and consulates came under repeated, deadly attacks from the Taliban and its allies, including the Haqqani group.
After the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, New Delhi evacuated its embassy and once again refused to recognise the group. However, unlike during the Taliban’s first stint in power, India built diplomatic contacts with the group – first behind closed doors, then, increasingly, publicly.
The logic was simple, say analysts: India realised that by refusing to engage with the Taliban earlier, it had ceded influence in Afghanistan to Pakistan, its regional rival.
In June 2022, less than a year after the Taliban’s return to power, India reopened its embassy in Kabul by deploying a team of “technical experts” to run it. In November 2024, the Taliban appointed an acting consul at the Afghan consulate in Mumbai.
Then, last January, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Muttaqi both flew to Dubai for a meeting – the highest-level face-to-face interaction between New Delhi and the Taliban to date.
Kabir Taneja, a deputy director at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, says not dealing with “whatever political reality sets in in Kabul was never an option” for India.
“No one is pleased per se that the reality is the Taliban,” Taneja told Al Jazeera. However, while India’s “decades-long” efforts to foster goodwill with the Afghan people have faced challenges since the Taliban takeover, they have not been entirely undone.
“Even the Taliban’s ideological stronghold, the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary, is in India,” he added. “These are ties with the country and its actors that cannot be vanquished, and have to be dealt with realistically and practically,” he added.
What is Pakistan’s calculus?
One of the Taliban’s foremost backers between 1996 and 2021, Pakistan has seen its relationship with the group plummet in recent years.
Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Pakistan has seen a surge in violent attacks, which Islamabad attributes to armed groups, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan insists that the TTP operates from Afghan territory and blames the ruling Taliban for allowing them sanctuary – a claim the Taliban government denies.
Emerging in 2007 amid the US-led so-called “war on terror”, the Pakistan Taliban has long challenged Islamabad’s authority through a violent rebellion. Though distinct from the Afghan Taliban, the two are seen as ideologically aligned.
Dar’s visit to Kabul and subsequent communication with Muttaqi represent a “tactical, ad hoc thaw” rather than a substantial shift in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, says Rabia Akhtar, director at the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research at the University of Lahore.
During the recent India-Pakistan crisis, Islamabad grew increasingly concerned about the possibility of Afghanistan allowing its territory to be used by New Delhi against Pakistan, she suggested. “This has increased Islamabad’s urgency to secure its western border,” Akhtar told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s decision earlier this year to expel Afghan refugees – including many who have spent most of their lives in Pakistan – and frequent border closures disrupting trade are also sources of tension in the relationship.
The refugees question, in particular, could prove to be a key factor that will shape future relations between the two countries, Akhtar said.
“While Pakistan has pushed for repatriation of undocumented Afghans, Kabul views such deportations as punitive,” she said. “If this dialogue is an indication of a recognition on both sides that confrontation is unsustainable, especially amidst shifting regional alignments and economic pressures, then that’s a good sign.”
The Taliban’s Shaheen said while Kabul wanted good relations with Islamabad, they should be “reciprocated” and that a “blame game” is not in anyone’s interest.
“We have taken practical steps as far as it concerns us,” he said, noting that Afghanistan had started building checkpoints “along the line adjacent to Pakistan in order to prevent any one from crossing”.
“However, their internal security is the responsibility of their security forces not ours.”
China, at the trilateral talks in Beijing on Wednesday, said Kabul and Islamabad had agreed in principle to upgrade diplomatic ties and would send their respective ambassadors at the earliest.
Nevertheless, Akhtar does not expect the “core mistrust” between the two neighbours, particularly over alleged TTP sanctuaries, to “go away any time soon”.
“We should look at this shift as part of Pakistan’s broader crisis management post-India-Pak crisis rather than structural reconciliation,” Akhtar asserted.
What does Iran want from its ties with the Taliban?
Like India, Tehran refused to recognise the Taliban when it was first in power, while backing the Northern Alliance, especially after the 1998 killing of Iranian diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif by Taliban fighters.
Iran amassed thousands of troops on its eastern border, nearly going to war with the Taliban over the incident.
Concerned about the extensive US military footprint in the region post-9/11, Iran was said to be quietly engaging with the Taliban, offering limited support in an effort to counter American influence and protect its own strategic interests.
Since the Taliban took back reins of the country nearly four years ago, Iran again showed willingness to build ties with rulers in Kabul on a number of security, humanitarian and trade-related matters, analysts say.
Shaheen, head of the Taliban’s office in Doha, said that both Iran and India previously thought the group was “under the influence of Pakistan”.
“Now they know it is not the reality. In view of this ground reality, they have adopted a new realistic and pragmatic approach, which is good for everyone,” he said.
Ibraheem Bahiss, analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the meeting between Muttaqi and Iranian President Pezeshkian doesn’t signal an “impending official recognition”. However, he said, “pragmatic considerations” have driven Iran to engage the Taliban, given its “key interests” in Afghanistan.
“Security-wise, Tehran wants allies in containing the ISIS [ISIL] local chapter. Tehran has also been seeking to expand its trade relations with Afghanistan, now being one of its major trading partners,” he told Al Jazeera.
In January 2024, twin suicide bombings in Kerman marked one of Iran’s deadliest attacks in decades, killing at least 94 people. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), an Afghanistan-based offshoot of ISIL, claimed responsibility.
In recent years, ISKP has also emerged as a significant challenge to the Taliban’s rule, having carried out multiple high-profile attacks across Afghanistan.
Bahiss added that Tehran also needed a “willing partner” in addressing the issue of some 780,000 Afghan refugees in Iran, as well as the “transboundary water flowing from Helmand River “.
In May 2023, tensions between the two neighbours flared, leading to border clashes in which two Iranian border guards and one Taliban fighter were killed.
The violence came after former and now deceased Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the Taliban not to violate a 1973 treaty by restricting the flow of water from the Helmand River to Iran’s eastern regions. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers denied the accusation.
Middle East
Iran’s Khamenei slams US nuclear proposal, vows to keep enriching uranium | Nuclear Energy News
Iranian supreme leader says issue of uranium enrichment remains key to Tehran’s pursuit of energy independence.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pledged that Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment, rejecting a key demand in a United States proposal aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The comments were delivered in a speech on Wednesday as the US and Iran continue to negotiate the details of a possible new nuclear deal. The issue of uranium enrichment has remained a sticking point in the talks, with the US reportedly demanding a complete halt or low-level enrichment in exchange for the lifting of Western sanctions against Tehran.
“The US nuclear proposal contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of ‘We Can,’” Khamenei said in his speech delivered on the commemoration of the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
Khamenei said the issue of uranium enrichment remained key to Iran’s pursuit of energy independence.
“Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America,” he said, adding that the US proposal was “100 percent against” the ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
He said Tehran would not seek Washington’s approval for its decisions.
“Some people think that rationality means bowing down to America and surrendering to the oppressive power; this is not rationality,” Khamenei said.
“Why are you interfering in whether Iran should have enrichment or not? You cannot have a say.”
On Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said that Tehran “would not abandon” the country’s scientific and nuclear rights, while disavowing nuclear weapons.
He said that those accusing Iran “are proliferating” weapons of mass destruction and destabilising the region with deadly weapons.
On Monday, the Reuters news agency had reported that Tehran was poised to reject the latest US proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, quoting an unnamed diplomat as saying the proposal was a “non-starter” that fails to soften Washington’s stance on uranium enrichment or to address Tehran’s interests.
Tehran said it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, who heads the American delegation in talks with Iran, has said President Donald Trump opposes Tehran continuing any enrichment, calling it a “red line”.
A leaked United Nations report shows that Iran has ramped up production of enriched uranium near weapons-grade by 50 percent in the last three months. It is still short, however, of the roughly 90 percent required for atomic weapons, but still significantly above the 4 percent or so needed for power production.
Iran, however, has rejected the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it is “politically motivated and repeates baseless accusations”.
Ira is currently grappling with multiple crises including a plunging currency, losses among regional militia proxies in conflicts with Israel, and rising fears of an Israeli strike on its nuclear sites.
A failure to get a new nuclear deal could see tensions further spike in a Middle East already on edge over Israel’s war in Gaza.
In a bustling district of Baghdad, workers are labouring diligently to restore the centuries-old shrine of a revered rabbi, seeking to revive the long-faded heritage of Iraq’s Jewish community.
Just a few months ago, the tomb of Rabbi Isaac Gaon was filled with rubbish. Its door was rusted, the windows broken, and the walls blackened by decades of neglect.
Now, marble tiles cover the once-small grave, and at its centre stands a large tombstone inscribed with a verse, the rabbi’s name, and the year of his death: 688. A silver menorah hangs on the wall behind it.
“It was a garbage dump, and we were not allowed to restore it,” said Khalida Elyahu, 62, the head of Iraq’s Jewish community.
Iraq’s Jewish community was once among the largest in the Middle East, but today has dwindled to just a handful of members.
Baghdad now has only one synagogue remaining, but there are no rabbis.
The restoration of the shrine is being funded by the Jewish community, at an estimated cost of $150,000.
The project will bring “a revival for our community, both within and outside Iraq”, Elyahu said.
With the support of Iraqi officials, she expressed hope to restore further neglected sites.
There is little information about Rabbi Isaac. During a visit to the tomb earlier this year, Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji stated that the rabbi had been a finance official.
Rabbi Isaac was a prominent figure during the Gaonic period, also known as the era of Babylonian academies for rabbis.
The title “Gaon” is likely to refer to his role as the head of one such academy.
His name was cited in the 10th century by another rabbi, who recounted a story that is not known from any other source, according to Professor Simcha Gross of the University of Pennsylvania.
According to the account, Rabbi Isaac led 90,000 Jews to meet Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Islamic caliph and a relative of the Prophet Muhammad, who is revered by Shia Muslims as the first imam, during one of his conquests in central Iraq.
“We have no other evidence for this event, and there are reasons to be sceptical,” Gross noted.
Nothing else is known about Rabbi Isaac, not even his religious views.
According to biblical tradition, Jews arrived in Iraq in 586 BC, taken as prisoners by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, after he destroyed Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.
In Iraq, they compiled the Babylonian Talmud.
Thousands of years later, under Ottoman rule, Jews comprised 40 percent of Baghdad’s population.
As in other Arab countries, the history of Iraq’s Jews shifted dramatically after the Palestinian Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, and the founding of Israel in 1948. Soon after, almost all of Iraq’s 135,000 Jews went into exile.
Decades of conflict and instability — Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, the United States-led invasion in 2003, and subsequent violence — further diminished the community.
Today, 50 synagogues and Jewish sites remain in Iraq, according to Elyahu. Most are in ruins, with some repurposed as warehouses.
The Hajj pilgrimage began on Wednesday. Some 1.8 million Muslims from across the globe are expected to gather in the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the annual gathering that will conclude on June 8.
Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for all adult Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the journey.
Throughout the sacred pilgrimage, pilgrims drink from Zamzam, a wellspring believed to have been flowing for more than 4,000 years, nourishing them to this day.
But where does this water come from, and why does it hold such deep significance?
Where is the Zamzam well located?
Zamzam water comes from a well, located within the Grand Mosque of Mecca (Masjid al-Haram), some 21 metres (69 feet) east of the Kaaba.
The Zamzam well is beneath the Mataf area, which is the white marble-tiled space surrounding the Kaaba where pilgrims perform Tawaf.
In 1962, King Saud commissioned the expansion of the Mataf area to better accommodate the growing number of pilgrims. As part of this project, the opening of the Zamzam well was lowered and enclosed in a basement approximately 2.7 metres (9 feet) deep beneath the Mataf.
In 2003, the basement entrances were closed, and drinking fountains were relocated to the sides of the Mataf to allow for further expansion.
Today, pilgrims access Zamzam water through dispensers and fountains spread throughout the Grand Mosque.
Why is Zamzam important to Hajj and Umrah?
Zamzam water is deeply connected to the origins of Mecca and the story of Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), his wife Hagar (Hajar), and their son Ishmael (Ismail).
According to Islamic tradition, Prophet Abraham left Hagar and baby Ishmael in the desert valley of Mecca by God’s command as a test of faith.
When their provisions ran out, Hagar ran back and forth seven times between the two small hills of Safa and Marwa searching for water.
![The domed building covering the Zamzam well in 1803 [Mahometaanen]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Adriaan-Reland-Verhandeling-van-de-godsdienst-der-Mahometaanen_MG_0723-1748781303.png?w=770&resize=770%2C487&quality=80)
God responded to her faith and struggle with a miracle: water began to gush from the ground near baby Ishmael’s feet – this became the Zamzam well.
This spring saved their lives and led to the settlement of Mecca, which today has a population of about 2.2 million.
![Building covering Zamzam in 1888 [Qatar National Library]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1888_Kaaba_and_Zamzam-1748780777.png?w=770&resize=770%2C435&quality=80)
During Hajj and Umrah, pilgrims re-enact Hagar’s search for water by walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa in the ritual of Sa’i and drink Zamzam water following the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, who praised its purity and healing qualities.
What does Zamzam mean?
According to Islamic tradition, when the Zamzam spring miraculously gushed forth near baby Ishmael’s feet, Hagar tried to contain the water, fearing it would run out.
She is said to have exclaimed “Zamzam”, which is often understood to mean “stop! stop!” or “hold! hold!” as she tried to stop the water from flowing away by gathering it around the spring.
What is the source of the Zamzam aquifer?
Zamzam water comes from a natural underground source beneath the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The well draws water from an aquifer, a layer of rock and sand that holds water, which is refilled by rainwater that seeps in from the surrounding Ibrahim Valley (Wadi Ibrahim) and nearby hills.
The Zamzam well is about 31 metres (101 feet) deep and was originally hand-dug. Water enters the well through loose sand and gravel in the top part, and also from cracks in the solid rock below.
Today, electric pumps bring the water up instead of the old rope-and-bucket method. The well itself is now closed to the public, but the water is available through fountains and dispensers around the Grand Mosque.
The Zamzam well is considered to have flowed uninterrupted for more than 4,000 years. The continuous flow of water and its central role in Hajj and Umrah have been well-documented for centuries.
According to the General Authority for the Care & Management of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, extraction and consumption of Zamzam vary by season:
On regular days:
Water supply: At least 950,400 litres (251,000 US gallons) daily
Consumption: About 700,000 litres (185,000 US gallons) daily
During peak seasons (Hajj and Ramadan):
Water supply: Up to 1.6 million litres (423,000 US gallons) daily
Consumption: Can reach 2 million litres (528,000 US gallons) daily due to the surge in pilgrims
According to the Saudi visa office, Mecca is expecting to welcome 15 million Umrah pilgrims in 2025.
To manage this demand, the Zamzam well is monitored in real time using digital sensors that track water level, pH (potential of hydrogen; a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a liquid), temperature, and conductivity. Additional monitoring wells across Wadi Ibrahim help assess how the entire aquifer responds to water use and rainfall.
The Zamzam Studies and Research Centre (ZSRC) estimates how much water can be safely extracted and advises the Grand Mosque authority on sustainable pumping levels. Each year, the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) issues a pumping schedule, with peak demand during Ramadan and Dhul-Hijjah and the lowest in Muharram.
If water levels fall below a set threshold, pumping is paused to allow the well to recover, ensuring a stable, long-term supply.
How is Zamzam different from tap water?
Zamzam water is clear and odourless, but it has a distinct taste due to its rich mineral content. It is slightly alkaline, with a pH between 7.9 and 8.0, higher than regular drinking water.
A study by King Saud University found no biological contamination or algae in Zamzam water, which are common in other wells and can affect taste and safety.
The minerals in Zamzam water offer several health benefits:
Fluoride: Helps prevent tooth decay, especially important in hot climates.
Calcium and magnesium: Present in higher amounts. Calcium is in an ionic form, making it easier for the body to absorb.
Sodium and potassium: Support hydration, nerve function and muscle health.
Overall, the total mineral count for Zamzam is 835mg/litre compared with Riyadh’s tap water at 350mg/litre.
How is Zamzam distributed?
The Saudi government prohibits the sale of Zamzam water for commercial purposes and strictly regulates its distribution to ensure it is provided as a sacred gift to pilgrims and not exploited for profit.
Pilgrims returning from Hajj or Umrah often bring back a 5-litre bottle of Zamzam water to share with family and friends back home. Because Zamzam water is considered a special gift, airlines typically do not include it in the regular luggage allowance, so pilgrims often carry it separately or follow specific guidelines when transporting it home.
Shipping Zamzam water through Saudi airports is simple and convenient—just follow the guidelines and use the designated containers for a smooth and hassle-free journey.#Makkah_And_Madinah_Eagerly_Await_You#Ease_And_Tranquility pic.twitter.com/de4PLGlo18
— Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (@MoHU_En) March 28, 2025
Saudi authorities have established a sophisticated, multistage system to store and distribute Zamzam water, ensuring it remains clean, safe and easily accessible. Electric pumps transport Zamzam water 5km (3 miles) south to the King Abdullah Zamzam Water Project in Kudai. There, the water is purified and then bottled.
After treatment, the water is stored in two main reservoirs:
Kudai reservoir: holds 10,000 cubic metres (10 million litres)
King Abdulaziz Sabeel reservoir in Madinah: holds 16,000 cubic metres (16 million litres)
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