Abandoned Diplomatic Outposts: The Silent Stories of US-Housed Embassies from Afghanistan, Iran, and Venezuela

It is this State Department section which oversees the maintenance of foreign countries' embassies.

United States:

In Washington's diplomatic quarter, severely overgrown vegetation outside a vacant building was finally trimmed in September as Syria's flag was hoisted once again.

The ceremonial reopening of the compound after an 11-year closure highlights that numerous buildings in Washington's Kalorama district remain sadly abandoned, victims of the dramatic shifts in global diplomacy.

Since Afghanistan's embassy closed shortly after the Taliban regained power in 2021, its mailbox has accumulated yellowing newspapers.

Nearby, weeds have overtaken the parking area of a mansion that previously housed the Russian trade delegation in Washington. The State Department mandated its closure in response to Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

The Syrian Embassy was shuttered by US authorities in 2014 following three years of civil conflict. Now, at least theoretically, it can resume operations.

The Trump administration announced this on November 10 following a White House visit by Syria's new president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the formerly blacklisted jihadist who orchestrated Assad's removal in late 2024.

According to former Syrian diplomat Bassam Barabandi, who spoke with AFP, the building is in such disrepair that restoration could take years.

Barabandi resigned from his position in 2013 after it was revealed he had secretly issued passports to Assad regime opponents.

He recalled that even before his departure, portions of the building had been partially condemned.

"So, just imagine," he remarked, referring to its current condition.

Down the street, the untamed hedges surrounding the abandoned ambassador's residence were occasionally trimmed by gardeners hired by wealthy neighbors annoyed by the unsightly appearance.

A utility company notice indicating gas disconnection still hangs from the front doorknob.

A few buildings away, near a mansion owned by Barack and Michelle Obama, stands the Afghan embassy.

"So one day it was there. The next day it just was, it was gone," recalled US postal worker Trina Thompson, who has delivered mail in the neighborhood for 25 years.

This occurred in March 2022, with then-deputy ambassador Abdul Hadi Nejrabi witnessing the entire process. He was the one who returned the embassy keys to the US government.

Kabul had fallen to the Taliban seven months earlier, and Hadi Nejrabi and his diplomatic colleagues represented a government that no longer existed.

Soon their financial accounts were frozen and their salaries ceased.

The embassy continued providing consular services to Afghan citizens but "we reached a point the State Department officially asked us to close the embassy and just hand over the keys," Hadi Nejrabi told AFP.

A team from the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions visited the embassy to supervise the closure.

"We checked every room, and then we just came out and we locked the door and I just gave the key," the former diplomat recounted.

It is this State Department section which oversees the maintenance of foreign countries' embassies.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, nations are obligated to respect and protect other countries' embassies when diplomatic relations are severed.

The State Department lists 29 such properties under its care: three associated with Afghanistan, six with Venezuela, and eleven with Iran—these three countries currently have no diplomatic relations with the United States. The list also includes three buildings for China and six Russian properties.

The facilities now inaccessible to Russians include consulates in San Francisco and Seattle and a substantial compound in Maryland.

These were closed during a series of reciprocal actions following the 2016 election won by Donald Trump.

The Russian Embassy informed AFP that these closures violate the Vienna Convention and "border on theft."

"While property rights of the Russian Federation for these six objects are recognized and have not been challenged by the US side, continuously denying access for Russian diplomats even to inspect the grounds and buildings is preposterous, cementing the bilateral relations' 'toxic legacy' of previous years."

Elsewhere in Kalorama, Iran's embassy has remained vacant since 1980, following the Islamic revolution that overthrew the US-backed shah.

The compact, blue-domed building once hosted elegant receptions for Washington's diplomatic community. However, unlike the Syrian embassy, its reopening appears unlikely as US-Iran tensions remain high.