Sources from the Taliban's Prisons Regulatory Authority confirmed to Afghanistan International that 150 foreign nationals are currently being held in the group's prisons in Afghanistan.

According to these sources, at least 10 of these prisoners are Iranian.

Sources from the Taliban's Prisons Regulatory Authority confirmed on Thursday, November 21, that about 8,000 Afghan prisoners are being held in Iranian prisons.

According to statistics provided by the agency, a total of nearly 12,000 prisoners are held in Taliban-controlled prisons in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has not yet provided details about the identities and reasons for not releasing these foreign prisoners in Afghanistan.

Earlier, US officials had confirmed that three US citizens had been imprisoned by the Taliban. Last week, the Taliban had arrested a Canadian veteran.

On November 14, the Taliban announced that a delegation from Iran's Ministry of Justice had travelled to Kabul to discuss the transfer of Afghan prisoners. According to the Taliban, these talks were held in order to transfer Afghan prisoners from Iran to Afghanistan to serve their sentences.

On November 18, Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, also announced that the number of Afghan prisoners in Iran is significant, and that this has cost the Islamic Republic a lot of money. He also said that Iran has redoubled its efforts to transfer these prisoners.

Iran's Deputy Minister for International Affairs and Human Rights has emphasised that the agreement for the transfer of Afghan convicts was signed in 2006 and that the Taliban is committed to this agreement.