The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(; ) was the primary

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

of the

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan Afghan Interim Administration, interim (2001–2002) and Transitional Islamic State of Afghanist ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The building is located at 2341 Wyoming Avenue N.W. in

's Kalorama neighborhood. The chancery is built in the

Colonial Revival style The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exposition, Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened A ...

Location

Consular offices were located at 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., as well as in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. From 1944 to 1963, the embassy was located at 2001 24th Street NW. The structure was built by Judge Edwin B. Parker in 1926, and designed by prominent D.C. architect Nathan C. Wyeth.

Shutdowns

In 1997, the embassy was closed by the United States due to a clash between the chargé d'affaires and an embassy deputy. The chargé d'affaires, Yar M. Mohabbat, represented the

Islamic State of Afghanistan The Islamic State of Afghanistan was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992. Many Afghan mujahideen parties participated in its creation, after the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, socialist government. Its power was ...

led by

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistan, Afghan politician and teacher who served as the sixth president of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, and again from November to December 2001 (in exile from 199 ...

and

Ahmad Shah Massoud Ahmad Shāh Massoud (2 September 19539 September 2001) was an Afghan militant leader and politician. He was a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 19 ...

. The embassy deputy, Seraj Wardak Jamal, revolted against Mohabbat and pledged allegiance to the Taliban, who had recently captured Kabul and ousted Rabbani and Massoud. The United States decided to temporarily suspend operations at the embassy because there was "no effective government in Afghanistan." Following the

2021 fall of Kabul On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after 2021 Taliban offensive, a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), War in Afghan ...

to the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

and the dissolution of the Islamic Republic in August 2021, the embassy and consulates remained in operation independently. Due to funding freezes related to sanctions, the Afghan diplomatic missions encountered financial issues, with many diplomats going unpaid for months. The final Afghan ambassador to the U.S. was

Adela Raz Adela Raz (born 1986) is an Afghan politician who was the last ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United States from July 2021 to February 2022. She was also the first woman to serve as Permanent Representative of Afghanis ...

, who resigned in February 2022 after the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

made moves to severely limit the activities of Afghan diplomats, according to Deputy Ambassador Abdul Hadi Nijrabi. In March 2022, the State Department announced that the embassy and consulates would close by the end of the month, and diplomats would have thirty days to apply for residency or humanitarian parole, with one-fourth of the 100 diplomatic staff in the United States not having applied yet. The State Department said it would maintain the properties until the missions could resume operations. The embassy and consulates closed on March 16, and all diplomatic and consular activities ceased. In a statement, the embassy claimed it had requested assistance from the State Department due to its financial challenges, and it had agreed to a suggestion by the department to transfer custody of the properties in accordance with the Vienna Convention. The

flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (; ), adopted on 15 August 2021 due to the Taliban's victory in the 2001–2021 war, features a white field with a black ''Shahada'' inscribed. Since the 20th century, Afghanistan has cha ...

will remain hoisted at the facilities. The embassy and consulates were the first diplomatic missions of Afghanistan to close in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover. The Afghan embassy in Canada took over responsibilities for providing services to Afghan nationals in the United States.

References

{{Afghanistan–United States relations Defunct diplomatic missions in the United States

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Afghanistan–United States relations

Location

Shutdowns

See also

References