The Taliban regime released on Monday (29) the US citizen Amir Amiri, detained in Afghanistan allegedly since December 2024, after unusual direct negotiations in Cabul with a special envoy of US President Donald Trump.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan today released an American citizen named Amir Amiri,” confirmed the Afghan Chancellery in a statement, without detailing the reasons that led to his arrest.
Representatives of the Taliban regime stressed that Cabul “does not consider issues related to foreign citizens from a political perspective” and ensured that “solutions to these cases can be found through diplomacy.”
“The action undertaken by releasing the American citizen also aimed at a positive development in this regard,” said the Talibans, who also expressed their “gratitude” as they pick up their role as a facilitator in prisoners’ release between Washington and Cabul.
Still on Cabul’s position, Taliban Zakir Jalaly, an Afghan Foreign Ministry official, said on social network X that these liberations “can open the way to expand relations in other areas”, and stressed that both parties have pledged to continue conversations to guide “future phases of collaboration.”
The special representative of the US president for prisoners and boss negotiating on this occasion, Adam Boehler, classified Amici’s release as “a positive moment,” according to the version broadcast by the Taliban.
American Secretary of State Marco Rubio also confirmed the liberation and celebrated the news in an official statement, stating that “thanks to President Trump’s leadership and commitment to the American people, the United States today welcomes citizens Amir Amiri, who was unjustly detained in Afghanistan.”
Rubio added that other Americans are still detained in the Asian country and warned that President Trump “will not rest” until everyone is “back home”.
The last release of an American citizen by the Taliban had occurred on March 20, also with the mediation of Qatar.
The agreement to release Amiri was managed after, on September 13, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met in Cabul with Boehler’s delegation to dialogue specifically about the situation of prisoners.
Although the military withdrawal from Afghanistan was completed in 2021 under Joe Biden’s government, it was during Trump’s first term that Washington signed Doha’s agreements with the Taliban, a pact that sealed the departure of US troops after two decades of war.
