The story: Iran has partially suspended operations at its diplomatic facilities in Afghanistan after demonstrations outside of its Herat consulate and Kabul embassy turned violent. Protests erupted on Apr. 11 after the spread of videos on social media which allegedly showed Afghan migrants in Iran being beaten by police and locals. This comes as Iranian officials have warned of efforts to stoke division between the two neighbors.

The coverage: Videos posted on social media showed the Herat consulate’s front door being set on fire and security cameras being destroyed by protesters. In both Herat and Kabul, the slogans chanted included “Death to Iran.”

• Taliban security forces dispersed the demonstrators, including by shooting live rounds in the air.
  
  
• Taliban officials have denied any role in guiding the unrest in Herat, explicitly saying that it was "arbitrary" and thus the work of rogue elements. They added that security has been restored at Iran’s diplomatic facilities.

After the attack on the Herat consulate, Iran’s foreign ministry announced that some of the country’s diplomatic activities in Afghanistan would be temporarily suspended, including the issuance of visas to Afghans seeking to travel to Iran.

• Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated on Apr. 11 that “full security” must be restored at Iranian diplomatic facilities. He also warned of efforts to promote “Iran-phobia” in Afghanistan and “Afghanistan-phobia” in Iran.
  
  
• Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry in Tehran and met with Rasoul Mousavi, the head of the ministry’s South Asia section.
  
  
• Mousavi issued a “strong protest” over the attack on the Herat consulate and called for “legal” action against the perpetrators.
  
  
• Iran’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Bahador Aminian said Iran seeks to preserve “close and trustworthy” relations with Afghanistan in meetings with the acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and former Afghan president Hamid Karzai (2001-14).

Reactions in Iran over the attack on the Herat consulate have varied, with some outlets and officials adopting defensive stances about the treatment of Afghans in Iran and others diverting blame away from the Taliban.

• The hardline Kayhan newspaper blamed “pro-west” groups for the attack on the Herat consulate.
  
  
• Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi echoed a similar sentiment, saying the Herat incident was a plot by “the enemy” to create “divisions between Iran and Afghanistan.”
  
  
• Ambassador Aminian said millions of Afghans have chosen to emigrate to Iran as opposed to other neighboring countries because of the better treatment they receive, including free education for their children.
  
  
• Journalist Sara Massoumi wrote in the reformist Etemad daily that it was time to review the “political implications” of the large influx of Afghan migrants into Iran since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last summer.

The context/analysis: Several videos circulated on social media over the past week allegedly showing Afghans in Iran being beaten by police and a crowd of people.

• The videos stoked anger among many Afghans. Some Taliban fighters posted a video on social media threatening to kill Iranian citizens and launch suicide attacks inside Iran over the treatment of Afghans in the country.
  
  
• The conservative Javan daily said emotions in Iran were stirred after the Apr. 5 stabbing of three Iranian clerics allegedly by an Afghan migrant, though it lamented that there have been “no reports on systematic discrimination against Afghan migrants in Iran.”

Iranian officials have emphasized that the anti-Iran protests in Afghanistan occurred after the stabbing of the clerics, two of whom died, in the city of Mashhad. Conservative newspapers such as Javan claim the timing is indicative of a pre-planned scenario to damage ties between the two neighbors.

• The assailant in the Mashhad incident reportedly harbored anti-Shiite views and was only identified by Iranian authorities as being a foreign national of Uzbek ethnicity. Of note, Afghanistan is home to an Uzbek minority.
  
  
• Journalist Sara Massoumi has asserted that the assailant in Mashhad was Afghan and alleged that Iranian authorities have declined to declare this to avoid inflaming tensions “between Iranians and Afghan migrants.”
  
  
• In blaming “pro-west” groups for the attack on Iran's Herat consulate, the conservative Kayhan daily said Iran’s foes seek to stop trade with Afghanistan and thus part of Tehran’s ability to “neutralize” the impact of US sanctions.

Of note, Iran and Afghanistan almost went to war in 1998 when the Taliban previously ruled the country. At the time, Taliban fighters killed ten Iranian diplomats after capturing the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

• Iran has adopted a more accommodating stance on the Taliban since the group’s takeover of Afghanistan last August.
• Iranian officials stressing that the Taliban was not involved in the attack on the Herat consulate is indicative of Tehran’s aim to maintain constructive relations.

Afghans have emigrated to Iran for decades amid war and turmoil at home. According to Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, 1M Afghans have sought refuge in Iran since the Taliban seized power. In this context, Tehran has notably raised fines for Afghans staying illegally in Iran over the past year and increased deportations.

• Many Afghans have for years complained about discrimination at the hands of both the authorities and ordinary people in Iran.
  
  
• At the same time, Afghan journalist and civil society activist Seyed Moshtaq Movahed has said Afghans in Iran are treated better than what is portrayed on social media. He added that “many Iranian citizens support Afghan refugees and treat them well.”

The future: Both Iran and the Taliban have indicated that they do not want the attack on the Iranian consulate in Herat to rupture bilateral relations.

• While Iran’s diplomatic facilities are likely to fully reopen soon, there are forces in both countries that oppose the current positive trajectory of bilateral relations.
  
  
• Going forward, it is likely that there will be more incidents by allegedly “rogue” elements that will test the current pragmatism of both sides.