IEA welcomes UN decision to temporarily exempt sanctions on 13 officials

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)_Monitoring, In a statement issued by the ministry of foreign affairs, the IEA stated that it considers the lifting of sanctions as its right in line with the commitment made in the Doha Agreement, which was signed in February 2020 between the IEA and the United States.

In response to sanctions on two senior IEA officials being revoked, the ministry said: “Unfortunately sanctions have been reimposed on two senior IEA officials. MoFA considers such pressure tactics futile and repetition of failed experiments that do not yield results.”
The IEA called on the UN Security Council “not to pass prejudiced verdicts any longer, but rather to guarantee the legitimate rights of the Afghan people.”

This comes after the UN’s decision Monday to ban two IEA officials from traveling in response to the restrictions imposed on Afghan women.

Travel exemptions permitting 15 IEA officials to go abroad for negotiations were set to expire Monday but the travel exemptions were extended for 13 officials for at least two months, but scrapped for the two education officials.

According to a diplomat who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the officials now banned from traveling are Said Ahmad Shaidkhel, the acting deputy education minister, and Abdul Baqi Basir Awal Shah, also known as Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the acting Minister of Higher Education.

After difficult negotiations, the UN’s Taliban (IEA) Sanctions Committee compromised on an extension for the 13 IEA leaders for “60 days + 30 days,” diplomats told AFP.
Under the terms of the agreement, the exemption will automatically be extended for the 13 IEA leaders in the third month “unless objected by any Council member,” a diplomatic source said.