The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

( ps, د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوری سفارت; prs, سفارت جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان) 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 deno ...

of the

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic that ruled Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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 Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

. 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 or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. 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 Nathan Corwith Wyeth (April 20, 1870 – August 30, 1963) was an American architect. He is best known for designing the West Wing of the White House, creating the first Oval Office. He designed a large number of structures in Washington, D.C., in ...

. In 1997, the embassy was closed by the United States due to clash between the chargé d'affaires and an embassy deputy. The chargé d'affaires, Yar M. Mohabbat, represented the Islamic State of Afghanistan led by Burhanuddin Rabbani and

Ahmad Shah Massoud ) , branch = Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar Afghan Armed Forces United Islamic Front , serviceyears = 1975–2001 , rank = General , unit = , commands = Mujahideen commander during the Soviet–Afghan Wa ...

. 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 a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and ...

to the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

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, who resigned in February 2022 after the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or 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 of other nati ...

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 will remain hoisted at the facilities. The embassy and consulates were the first

diplomatic missions of Afghanistan Following the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, diplomatic missions of Afghanistan set up by the deposed government, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, have largely continued operating. Because attempts by former Islamic Republic of Afghanist ...

to close in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover.

References

Defunct diplomatic missions in the United States

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Afghanistan–United States relations {{Afghanistan-gov-stub

See also

References