The State Department announced on May 17 that the US had assumed possession of Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington and consulates in New York and Beverly Hills, California.
The State Department announced on Monday that it had taken “sole responsibility” for the security and upkeep of the diplomatic missions and that no one could access them without its authorization until further notice.
The move occurred after the government found that at 12:00 on May 16, the embassy and consulates had “formally ceased conducting diplomatic and consular activities in the United States.”
The United States does not recognize the new Taliban administration in Afghanistan
The United States does not recognize the new Taliban administration in Afghanistan, which came to power last year after American and coalition troops withdrew, and has no official diplomatic contacts with the country.
“Until further notice, the Department of State’s Office of Foreign Missions has assumed sole responsibility for the protection and preservation of the referenced missions’ property, including but not limited to all real and tangible property, furnishings, archives, and financial assets of the Afghan Embassy or its consular posts in the United States,” the department said in a notice to be published in the Federal Register on May 18.
The Afghan embassy in Washington, as well as consular postings in Little Neck, New York, and Beverly Hills, California, were identified as the missions.
According to a department official, the US took possession of the facilities after reaching an arrangement with former Afghan government ambassadors who were facing “serious budgetary restrictions that made continuing operations untenable.”
The move, according to the official, did not reflect a shift in US policy toward Afghanistan and had no bearing on the Afghan UN mission.
Afghanistan has not sought a third country to act as a “protecting power” for its facilities or interests in the United States, according to the department. Qatar has operated as the United States’ protecting power in Afghanistan since Washington closed its embassy in Kabul.