Where are Iran-Afghanistan ties headed under Pezeshkian?

As a new government under incoming President Masoud Pezeshkian is poised to assume power in Iran later this month, the Taliban government in Kabul has indicated that Iran-Afghan ties need closer attention. 

Last week Taliban authorities declared senior diplomat Iranian diplomat Ali Mojani a persona non grata and asked him to leave with only a few hours’ notice. The Taliban said that Mojani, who serves as an advisor to Iran's special representative for Afghan affairs, had “overstepped his boundaries,” according to Afghanistan International.

Mojani had reportedly complained that though he sent an official request to participate in Eid prayers in Kandahar with Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs broke diplomatic protocols by not letting him take part. 

Yet the move seems more likely a response to the expulsion of a Taliban diplomat — referred to by Iranian media outlets as “Dr. Salim” — last year from Iran after he physically attacked an Iranian photographer at the Afghan consulate in Mashhad.