Tehran – According to Nadar Yar Ahmadi, head of the National Immigration Agency, a total of 6.1 million certified and fraudulent Afghan citizens live in the country.
Iran hosts one of the world’s largest and longest-running refugee groups, most of which are Afghan refugees.
Approximately 2.1 million immigrants have been documented and information on two other million registered, with the rest being illegally entering the country, Isna cited Yal Ahmadi.
Over the past Iranian calendar years (March 2024 – March 2025), more than a million undocumented citizens have been deported to their country, of which 40% have voluntarily returned, officials noted.
Women and children make up the majority of unauthorized foreigners who work in the country and may not pose a threat. However, due to the high costs (including food, transportation, fuel, etc.) imposed by the country’s refugees, Iran hopes they will return to their home country, he added.
At a recent meeting between Afghanistan’s deputy refugee minister and the repatriation minister and the South Asian director at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the Taliban called for a joint meeting with Tehran to address the situation of Afghan immigration.
According to a report on Saturday, Afghanistan’s representative refugee minister, Morawi Abdul Kabir, met with Mohammad Reza Bahrami and his companion delegation in Kabul.
During the meeting, Abdul Kabir highlighted the deep historic ties between the two countries and expressed his appreciation for Iran’s decades of hospitality for Afghan immigrants. He also called for continued Islamic compassion in Iran’s treatment of these migrants.
Taliban officials noted that Kabul is implementing a plan for the voluntary return of Afghan refugees, revealing that 46 residential towns are currently under construction and are dealing with returnees.
In response, Balami recognized Iran’s presence in the presence of millions of Afghan citizens. Many of them lack legal documents. He emphasized the need for greater cooperation between the two countries to address the ongoing challenges and expanded the official invitation to the representative minister to visit Tehran.
Iranian diplomats also welcomed the Afghan housing initiative and described it as a positive step to promote the voluntary return of immigrants to their homelands.
Afghan refugees gradually return with dignity
Foreign Minister Abbas Arakich said Afghan refugees will return to their country in a process in which they gradually gain dignity.
He said officials from both countries are working on a plan to return Afghans resident in Iran, the IRNA reported.
“We are negotiating with the Afghan government, so this process can be carried out in a principled and organized way.
They do not want the return of the people (Afghanistan) to be a social crisis in both countries. The key principle for us is to work on logical and rational procedures,” he explained.
If the international community takes responsibility and refrains from fair sharing of refugee hosting burdens, Iran’s Islamic Republic will likely amend its immigration policy, Yal Ahmadi said.
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