{"id":175899,"date":"2025-06-11T14:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/175899\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T14:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:39:09","slug":"spain-seeks-arrest-of-afghanistans-former-ambassador-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/175899\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain seeks arrest of Afghanistan\u2019s former ambassador: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADRID \u2014 Spanish police have formally requested an international arrest warrant for Rahim Pirzada, Afghanistan\u2019s former ambassador to Spain, over allegations of sexual assault involving multiple women, including a 37-year-old Afghan complainant living in Germany, according to the German news outlet Welt. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The request follows renewed investigation efforts and the removal of diplomatic protections that had previously shielded Pirzada from prosecution.<\/p>\n

Welt reported that Spain\u2019s UFAM unit, a specialized division that investigates violence against women, has submitted its case materials to a Madrid court, which will now decide whether to seek Pirzada\u2019s extradition from the United States, where he is currently in custody.<\/p>\n

Pirzada was reportedly arrested in late March at Washington Dulles International Airport, using the alias Mohammad Rahim Wahidi, and questioned by F.B.I. agents regarding claims of sexual misconduct. At least four women have made formal allegations against him, including one who said Pirzada drugged and raped her in Madrid in 2022. Speaking anonymously to Welt, the woman said, \u201cMy life will never return to how it was, but I at least hope there\u2019s a chance for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, Spanish prosecutors had suspended the investigation, citing diplomatic immunity. However, following Welt\u2019s March expos\u00e9, Spain\u2019s Foreign Ministry clarified that Pirzada was not officially accredited as a diplomat and did not enjoy immunity. He had taken control of the embassy after the fall of the Afghan government in 2021, following the Taliban\u2019s return to power.<\/p>\n

With immunity lifted, Spanish authorities reopened the case and moved to request his extradition. A Madrid judge is now expected to decide whether formal extradition proceedings will move forward.<\/p>\n

The investigation has been plagued by delays, particularly in cross-border cooperation. Welt reports that Spanish authorities reached out to their German counterparts as early as October 2024, asking them to contact one of the key witnesses. However, it was not until mid-December that she was interviewed at a local police station in Dillenburg, and another three months passed before her testimony reached Spain.<\/p>\n

German prosecutors acknowledged the delay in a statement to Welt, saying the materials were forwarded to Spain on March 14, 2025 \u2014 via standard mail, rather than Interpol channels. A person familiar with the case described the mailing method and timeline as \u201chighly unusual\u201d by international legal standards.<\/p>\n

Spanish officials declined to comment on why the extradition request was not submitted earlier.<\/p>\n

Pirzada\u2019s legal troubles may intersect with a separate case involving his brother-in-law, Farhad Shakeri, who is under U.S. federal indictment for allegedly working with Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on a plot to carry out an assassination in the United States.<\/p>\n

Shakeri, along with two alleged accomplices, has been charged by the Southern District of New York. While no official connection has been established, U.S. prosecutors and media reports \u2014 including by Politico, which like Welt is part of the Axel Springer publishing group \u2014 have suggested the cases may overlap.<\/p>\n

Pirzada\u2019s American legal team has not responded to inquiries about the possible connection.<\/p>\n

He has categorically denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, issuing a general statement through his lawyer rejecting the charges as baseless.<\/p>\n

For now, the case rests with the Madrid court, which must determine whether Spain will proceed with a formal extradition request to bring Pirzada back to face possible prosecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADRID \u2014 Spanish police have formally requested an international arrest warrant for Rahim Pirzada, Afghanistan\u2019s former ambassador to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-175899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114665250032598071","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}