At Least 7 Killed in Blast in North Afghanistan

Taliban security personnel carry a damaged bus after a roadside bomb blast in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province, in northern Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (AP)
Taliban security personnel carry a damaged bus after a roadside bomb blast in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province, in northern Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (AP)
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At Least 7 Killed in Blast in North Afghanistan

Taliban security personnel carry a damaged bus after a roadside bomb blast in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province, in northern Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (AP)
Taliban security personnel carry a damaged bus after a roadside bomb blast in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province, in northern Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (AP)

At least seven people were killed on Tuesday when a blast hit a vehicle carrying oil workers in northern Afghanistan, police said. 

"Today at around 7 a.m. a blast took place in ... Balkh on a bus which belonged to Hairatan oil employees," said Mohammad Asif Wazeri, police spokesperson for northern province of Balkh, adding that at least six people were wounded. 

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. Wazeri said police were investigating and searching for a culprit. 

Balkh province is home to one of Afghanistan's main dry ports in the town of Hairatan, near the border with Uzbekistan, which has rail and road links to Central Asia. 

It was not clear who the employees on the bus worked for. 



China Says Iran's Foreign Minister Will Visit on Wednesday

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL
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China Says Iran's Foreign Minister Will Visit on Wednesday

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi will visit China on April 23 at the invitation of China, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

The two sides will discuss bilateral relations and international and regional hot-spot issues of common concern, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.

The visit is believed to have great significance for deepening political mutual trust between the two countries, Guo told reporters.

The announcement came after the Iranian foreign ministry said on Monday that its top diplomat will visit China on Tuesday, ahead of a third round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington due on Saturday in Oman.

In a trip to Moscow last week, Araghchi told state TV that Tehran always closely consults with its friends, Russia and China, over nuclear issues.