Iran deported more than 1.12 million Afghan migrants between March 2024 and March 2025, according to Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, spokesperson for the country’s Law Enforcement Command.
Iranian state media reported that authorities carried out 1,190 operations described as “deportation plans” across the country during the 12-month period. Al-Mahdi claimed that these efforts contributed to a 7 percent decrease in kidnappings nationwide.
The announcement comes amid a sharp increase in the detention and forced repatriation of Afghan nationals in Iran—a crackdown that has drawn criticism from international human rights groups and refugee advocacy organizations.
In response, the Taliban’s acting minister for refugees, Abdul Kabir, met in Kabul with a visiting Iranian delegation led by Mohammad Reza Bahrami, an adviser to Iran’s foreign ministry, and Alireza Bigdeli, Tehran’s envoy in Afghanistan. During the meeting, Kabir urged Iranian authorities to adopt a more lenient approach toward Afghan migrants and to allow them time to return voluntarily.
Kabir also said the Taliban are drafting a legal framework to provide documentation for Afghans whose legal residency in Iran has expired, with the aim of enabling them to remain temporarily.
