Iran summons Afghan envoy after protesters throw rocks at diplomatic missions
Iran summoned the Afghan charge d'affaires on Tuesday after a protest at its diplomatic mission in western Afghanistan.
Tehran also announced the closure until further notice of its Afghan missions, where other protests had also occurred.
On Monday, dozens of Afghans chanting "death to Iran" demonstrated outside the Iranian consulate in Herat after videos spread widely over the weekend, purportedly showing Iranians beating Afghan refugees.
Demonstrators burned an Iranian flag and damaged surveillance cameras at the mission before dispersing, an AFP correspondent said. They also threw stones at the compound.
On Monday, a similar anti-Iranian protest occurred in the southeastern city of Khost, and another took place outside the Iranian embassy in Kabul.
Another demonstration over the videos occurred near Ahmad Shah Massoud Square in Kabul on Tuesday.
A statement on Iran's foreign ministry website said the embassy in Kabul had also been targeted.
The statement, issued on Tuesday, said the ministry's director-general for South Asia summoned Afghanistan's charge d'affairs in Tehran "to vigorously protest the attacks on the Iranian embassy in Kabul and the consulate general in Herat".
It added that the embassy and consular sections in Afghanistan had suspended operations "in order to obtain necessary assurances guaranteeing total security of the missions".
However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh later contradicted the statement by saying: "All missions of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Afghanistan are open and continue to operate," Iran's Students News agency Isna reported.
'Baseless and invalid'
Iran, which hosts more than five million Afghan refugees, has seen a fresh influx of Afghans since the Taliban returned to power last August.
The protests occurred after videos were circulated on social media at the weekend that purported to show Iranian border guards and Iranian mobs beating Afghan refugees in Iran.
It was unclear when the images were filmed, and their authenticity could not be independently verified.
On Sunday, Iran's embassy in Kabul called the images "baseless and invalid".
Since the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan has been plunged further into an economic crisis.
Thousands of people daily try to cross into neighbouring Iran in search of work, or in a bid to reach Europe in the hope of asylum.
Although Iran's clerical establishment has had generally good relations with the Taliban, there have been longstanding tensions along the two countries' 900km joint border, which has active smuggling routes, Reuters reported.
Iran has so far not recognised the Taliban government.
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