TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry called Friday for security guarantees for its diplomats in Herat, after Taliban militants seized the western city in neighbouring Afghanistan.

“The Islamic republic is concerned over the escalating violence in Afghanistan, and in light of the Taliban taking control of Herat, calls for guarantees of complete safety for its diplomatic missions and the lives of its staff,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted.

He said the ministry was “in contact” with its staff in the city, which lies just 115 kilometres (70 miles) from the Iranian border.

The Taliban seized Herat on Thursday, the latest in a string of regional capitals it has wrested from government forces as US forces withdraw after a two-decade occupation.

On Friday, it also captured Kandahar, the nation’s second-biggest city, leaving only Kabul and other pockets of territory in government hands.

The United States and Britain ordered the deployment Friday of thousands of troops to evacuate their nationals from the Afghan capital.

The Iranian foreign ministry’s West Asia chief Rusoul Mosavi said staff at its Herat mission were “well”, the official IRNA news agency reported Friday.

Without specifying their number, he said they were still inside the mission and that “the forces that now control the city gave guarantees of full protection for the consulate, diplomats and other staff”.