Alireza Rajaei, Iran's assistant foreign minister, stated during a programme, "In light of the recent developments, Afghanistan will be reclaimed by its own citizens in the near future."

He said that the Persian language has been rejected by the “Afghan usurpers”.

This Iranian official made these remarks on Tuesday during the "Herat Night" programme, hosted by the Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies in Tehran and which had been attended by the country’s officials.

This institute posted on a social media platform that the objective of the programme was to showcase and emphasise the significance of Herat city as "one of the important cities of Khorasan in the realms of culture, art, and history”.

Rajaei did not elaborate further on his assertion regarding Afghanistan falling into the hands of its citizens. However, he commented on the status of the Persian language in Afghanistan, stating, "The usurpers in Afghanistan are actively working to undermine the Persian language.”

While Rajaei did not specifically identify a particular group, over the past two years, the Taliban has eliminated certain Persian administrative and business terms from the signage of government institutions and scientific centres, substituting them with Pashto equivalents.