restriction he found particularly cruel, the news "struck a personal chord" for him, as he had grown up with the sport while living in Afghanistan. Hosseini was motivated to write a 25-page short story about two boys who fly kites in Kabul that he later developed into his first novel, The Kite Runner. International relations Regarding its relations with the rest of the world, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan held a policy of isolationism: "The Taliban believe in non-interference in the affairs of other countries and similarly desire no outside interference in their country's internal affairs". Despite these isolationist policies, the Taliban entered in a deal for oil, electricity, and gas with Turkmenistan as part of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline. While initially maintaining a friendly relationship, relations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Iran deteriorated in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif and executed Iranian diplomats. Following this incident, Iran threatened to invade Afghanistan by massing up military forces near the Afghan border but intervention by the United Nations Security Council and the United States prevented the war. Turkmenistan adopted a position of "positive neutrality" and limited cooperation with the Taliban. China first initiated contact with the Taliban in 1998. In November 2000, China's then-ambassador to Pakistan, Lu Shulin, became the first senior representative of a non-Muslim country to meet with Mullah Omar. Diplomatic recognition Between 1996 and 2001, only three widely recognized countries; Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) declared the Islamic Emirate to be the rightful government of Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate would also receive recognition from the partially recognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria; though Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov would later describe the Islamic Emirate as an "illegitimate" government. The Taliban government additionally received support from Turkmenistan, though the country did not provide the Emirate with formal recognition. The Taliban government was not recognized by the United Nations, which instead continued to recognize the Islamic State of Afghanistan as being the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Following the declaration of a "War on Terror" by the United States after the September 11 attacks by al-Qaeda in 2001, international opposition to the Taliban regime running the Islamic Emirate drastically increased, and the only remaining diplomatic recognition by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates was rescinded under growing pressure. Sanctions On 15 October 1999, the UN Security Council established a sanctions regime to cover