US will permanently close the consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, its closest mission to Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department will permanently close the U.S. consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, which has been America’s closest diplomatic mission to the Afghan border and was a primary operations and logistics point before, during and after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

The department notified Congress this week of its intent to close the consulate and said it would save $7.5 million per year, while not adversely affecting its ability to advance U.S. national interests in Pakistan, according to a copy of the notification obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The move has been under consideration for more than a year since the Trump administration began downsizing nearly all federal agencies and is not related to the Iran war, which has sparked protests in various Pakistani cities, including Karachi and Peshawar, where the U.S. consulates temporarily suspended operations.

The administration’s cuts to the State Department last year included the dismissal of several thousand diplomatic personnel and the near wholesale firing of staffers with the U.S. Agency for International Development, which it entirely dismantled. The Peshawar consulate, however, is the first overseas diplomatic mission to be closed down entirely because of the State Department’s reorganization.

The Peshawar consulate employs 18 American diplomats and other government personnel and 89 local staff, according to the notice, which is dated Tuesday and said the department would spend $3 million to close it down. More than half of that amount, $1.8 million, would pay for the relocation of armored trailers that had served as temporary office space, it said.

The rest will go toward moving the consulate’s motor pool fleet, electronic and telecommunications equipment and office furniture to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the remaining consulates in Karachi and Lahore, the notice said.

Because of its proximity to the Afghan border and Kabul, the Peshawar consulate had been a key jumping-off facility for overland travel into Afghanistan as well as a point of contact for American citizens in northwestern Pakistan and Afghan nationals seeking U.S. assistance.

The notification said consular services for American citizens and others would be handled by the embassy in Islamabad, which is about 114 miles (184 kilometers) away.

“The closure would not adversely affect the mission’s ability to advance core U.S. national interests, assist U.S. citizens, or to conduct adequate oversight of foreign assistance programs because all of those functions would continue to be performed by U.S. Embassy Islamabad,” it said.