Mirwais Azizi - a Pashtun pro-Taliban Lobbyist in Dubai

February 21, 2025

Mirwais Azizi - a Pashtun pro-Taliban Lobbyist in Dubai

Many Taliban lobbyists live outside Afghanistan — in the United States, Europe, Russia, and other parts of the world.

Among the most prominent and affluent figures associated with pro-Taliban networks is Mirwais Azizi Hotak, a Dubai-based Pashtun businessman. Azizi, who has been accused of large-scale corruption and financial misconduct, is Afghanistan’s wealthiest man.

(Although he maintains a low public profile, Afghan Pashtun billionaire Mirwais Azizi has been accused of large-scale corruption.)

He belongs to the Hotak branch of the Pashtun tribe and is a descendant of Shah Mahmud Hotak (1697–1725), also known as Shah Mahmud Ghilji, who ruled the Hotak dynasty after overthrowing the Safavid Empire to become King of Persia from 1722 until his death in 1725. Mahmud Hotak was the eldest son of Mirwais Hotak (1673–1715), the chief of the Ghilji Pashtun tribe, who in 1709 separated the Kandahar region from the Persian Empire.

The Ghilji Pashtun tribe has often been criticized for its strong tribalism and ethnic bias. For this reason, many Pashtun elites tend to omit their tribal names. For instance, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani avoids using his full tribal name, Ahmadzai.

Mirwais Azizi Hotak is the chairman of the Azizi Group of Companies, which he founded in 1989. The group operates across various sectors, including real estate, banking, investment, and hospitality. He also established Azizi Bank in Kabul in 2006 with an initial capital of $7.5 million, which has since grown to about $80 million.

Over the years, Azizi has cultivated close ties with influential figures, including political leaders such as Ashraf Ghani, Zalmay Khalilzad—a well-known pro-Taliban lobbyist in the U.S.—as well as senior Taliban figures and leaders from Gulf Arab states.

(Mirwais Azizi and Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum)

Azizi was featured in the list of "Arabian Business 100 Inspiring leaders in the Middle East" in March 2018. He is currently building Burj Azizi, with 133 floors and 725 meters the second-tallest tower in the world, while millions of Afghans are starving to death. Burj Azizi is only 100 meters less than the height of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, which is located 2 kilometers away from Burj Azizi. Burj Azizi, set for completion by 2028.

(A computer rendering shows Burj Azizi with Burj Khalifa in the background.)

Azizi is regarded as Afghanistan's richest man. He has handled as much as 70% of the petroleum products sold in Afghanistan, reported by Asia Sentine. Asia Sentine writes about him: "Afghanistan's leading commercial banker is a professional Las Vegas poker player." In spite of the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Mirwais Azizi Hotak's wealth is rising. Many Afghans believe that he still profits from revenues the Taliban are selling to foreign countries, i.e. China, Russia and other countries. The sources of his income is unclear.

The following is an incomplete list of companies/organizations owned by Mirwais Azizi:

-Azizi Investments

-Azizi Developments

-Azizi Bank

-Bakhtar Bank (now as Islamic Bank of Afghanistan)

-Azizi Hospitality

-Azizi Foundation

Mirwais Azizi Hotak's lobbying for the Taliban

According to media reports from 21 February 2025, Afghan businessman Mirwais Azizi, chairman of Azizi Group, has announced plans to build a $500 million medical city in Kabul, as part of two major “philanthropic” and “investment” projects in Afghanistan. During a one-day visit to Kabul on 20 February 2025, Azizi said the Azizi Foundation will construct the Farashta Azizi Medical City in Police District 8, named in memory of his daughter.

(Mirwais Azizi delivering a speech with the Taliban flag next to him)

In addition to the medical project, Azizi announced a five-year, $10 billion investment initiative, primarily focused on energy production. The first project under this program, a 200-megawatt solar power plant in Kabul, is set to begin construction on Friday and is expected to be completed within eight months. The broader initiative aims to establish power generation centers with a total capacity of 10,000 megawatts across Afghanistan. A ceremony marking the occasion was attended by Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs.

Azizi's investment move in Taliban infrastructure comes at a time when the Taliban terrorist regime is under enormous pressure from inside and outside of Afghanistan. It is also a sign that the Taliban and their supporters are desperate. Since Donald Trump stopped USA's funding of the Taliban for some time now, the Taliban is suffering from the consequences. Mirwais Azizi obviously wants to substitue the funding of the Taliban by donating huge amounts of the stolen wealth of Afghans, which he deposited to foreign banks.

The fifth session of the ‘Vienna Process for a Democratic Afghanistan’ with over ninety Afghan opposition figures concluded with a call for international support to form a transitional government in Afghanistan. In his speech held at that conference, Yasin Zia, head of the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), a leading armed resistance faction against the Taliban, warned against pro-Taliban lobbyists in the West. Ahmad Massoud, opposition leader and leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF), was the most prominent participant and also held a speech, in which he declared that the programs for the future of Afghanistan are taking shape. Following that speech, he gave a far-reaching interview, in which he warned European states of making a deal with the Taliban to deport Afghan refugees.