Iran urges Afghan officials to improve Iranian diplomats' security

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned the recent attack on the Iranian Consulate in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat, and urged Afghan officials to do their best to improve the security of the Iranian diplomats and nationals in Afghanistan. Afkham underscored the need for safeguarding the security of the premises and employees of Iran’s consulates and political offices in Afghanistan and called for adoption of measures aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future. “Based on their organizational duties, the local police and security officials should have been present at the scene immediately and prevented any illegal assembly, damage to the office and disruption of the activities of the staffers,” Afkham pointed out. She noted that Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tehran on Saturday for explanations about the incident and conveying the Islamic Republic’s call to Kabul for tighter security measures to prevent similar events. On Saturday morning, a group of protesters attacked the Iranian Consulate in Afghanistan's Herat city. Spokesman for Afghanistan’s Herat Police Abdelraouf Ahmadi announced that the security forces prevented the protesters who were trying to set the Iranian Consulate ablaze in the Afghan city. “We firmly confronted the rioters. An assailant was killed and three others wounded in clashes,” Ahmadi said. He underlined that four police forces were also wounded and transferred to Herat Hospital. Eyewitnesses told FNA that 500 people who claimed the Iranian Consulate has not paid the cash money for their work visa gathered in front of Herat governorate building in the city and called for the provincial officials’ attention to their problem, but when they saw no reaction from them they joined a number of rioters and attacked the consulate building causing a lot of damage to the building. Some local media reported that two people, including a police soldier, have been killed and four others killed during the clashes.