"So far no sign of immediate unfreezing of the assets. It seems US conditioned it with Taliban's behavior on girls education," Nadery said when asked if the US may unblock the funds in the near future.
The Taliban* came to power last August after the withdrawal of US troops from the country and the fall of the US-backed government. In December 2021, the Taliban issued a decree, acknowledging that women are not property and cannot be forced into marriage. In January, the movement made it obligatory for women to wear face covering hijab in public, which caused protests in Kabul. Afghan media representatives said that the Taliban banned media from showing women without wearing a hijab.
The US locked billions of dollars of Afghanistan government reserves following the takeover. In February, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to allow $7 billion in Afghan Central Bank funds deposited in the US to be split between a humanitarian trust and compensation to the families of 9/11 terror victims.
The Taliban repeatedly protested the decision and attempted to unlock the seized assets.
*Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorism.