The Iranian Tasnim News Agency said on Tuesday that its photojournalist Mohammad Hossein Velayati was arrested by the Taliban when he returned to the Kabul Airport after spending ten days in the capital.
Tasnim indicated that Velayati had legally entered Afghanistan by plane, adding that they remain ill-informed about his whereabouts.
The Taliban authorities have not explained the reason behind the arrest and attempts to seek an explanation from the group have borne no result, Tasnim asserted.
The Iranian News Agency has called on the Taliban to release Velayati immediately.
The Taliban officials in the capital have not commented yet.
Recently, the Taliban confirmed that 16 foreign nationals, including five women, are currently being held in the group’s prisons in Afghanistan without providing information about their identity.
Among them include Afghanistan-born French journalist, Mortaza Behboudi, who was detained in January 2023, two days after arriving in Kabul. Despite mounting international condemnation and protests, Behboudi remains in Taliban custody and in incommunicado.
