Situation ‘Calm’ at Iran-Afghanistan Border after Clashes with Taliban

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Wednesday evening that the issue regarding the clashes between Iranian border guards and Taliban forces in the border area of Sistan and Balouchestan Province and Nimroz province of Afghanistan, has ended with the coordination between the border guards of two countries.

“This evening, a dispute between the border residents caused a shooting in the Sistan border area, which had been managed and ended with the coordination of the border guards on both sides,” Khatibzadeh stated.

Tasnim news agency reported that the battle happened in the village of Shaghalak in Hirmand county, adding that there are walled areas on Iranian soil near the border with Afghanistan in order to combat smuggling.

Some Iranian farmers passed the walls but were still inside Iran’s border when Taliban forces opened fire, thinking its side had been violated, the report said.

Mohammad Marashi, security deputy for Sistan and Balouchestan’s governor, told the IRIB the clashes were not serious, incurred no harm on personnel or property, and had ended.

According to Marashi, Taliban forces had opened fires at Iranian farmers carrying out agricultural checks on their lands close to the zero point of the border unaware of the specifics of the Iranian territory, forcing Iranian border guards to respond.

"This confrontation, the crossfire, took place and lasted for almost a few hours... with the negotiations that have taken place and the follow-ups that have taken place, the situation is calm and there is no particular problem. What has been published in cyberspace under the title of the (border) checkpoints being seized is not true at all," stated Marashi after several media outlets claimed Iranian border outposts had fallen into Taliban hands.