Senior UN Envoy Warns Iran-Israel Conflict Deepens Afghanistan Crisis

The UN’s top envoy in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, has told the UN Security Council that escalating missile attacks between Iran and Israel are worsening Afghanistan’s already severe humanitarian and economic challenges.

According to an article published by Khaama Press, the conflict is disrupting trade, raising prices for basic goods and fuel, and causing increased returns of Afghans from Iran—over 10,000 per day recently. More than 600,000 Afghans have returned this year from Pakistan and Iran, straining local communities and Taliban authorities who need international assistance to manage safe and orderly returns.

Otunbayeva updated on the UN’s ongoing engagement with Taliban leaders, emphasizing efforts to achieve peace, reintegration into the international community, and adherence to international obligations. However, she expressed deep concern that women’s and girls’ rights remain severely restricted, with no improvements in inclusive governance or human rights. The Taliban’s “law on the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice” enforces discriminatory policies excluding women and girls from education beyond primary school, employment, and public life, hindering Afghanistan’s reintegration globally.

Humanitarian needs are acute: half the population requires assistance; one in five Afghans is hungry; 3.5 million children suffer malnutrition; and 3.7 million children are out of school, including 2.2 million girls banned from education. Funding cuts have forced the closure of 420 health facilities and nearly 300 nutrition sites, severely impacting vulnerable populations.

UN Women’s Executive Director Sima Bahous warned that regional insecurity from the Iran-Israel conflict will worsen hardships for Afghan women and girls, compounding poverty, displacement, and violence. Despite legal and bureaucratic barriers and funding cuts, UN Women continues to deliver aid, while Afghan women show remarkable resilience by organizing underground schools and building lives in limited spaces.

The UN calls urgently for de-escalation in the region and increased international support to address Afghanistan’s escalating crisis.