A senior Iranian official said this week that more than 6.1 million Afghan nationals—both documented and undocumented—are currently residing in Iran, a figure that significantly exceeds United Nations estimates and underscores the ongoing challenges of migration management between the two neighboring countries.
Nader Yar-Ahmadi, head of Iran’s National Organization for Migration, said 2.1 million Afghans in Iran hold legal status, while another two million have been registered through national databases. The remaining population, he said, entered the country irregularly and remains undocumented.
The figures, reported by Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency, mark one of the highest estimates yet from Iranian authorities, and come amid heightened pressure on Afghan migrants to return to their home country.
Yar-Ahmadi said more than one million undocumented Afghan migrants were deported during the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended in March 2025. Of those, about 40 percent returned voluntarily, according to Iranian officials.
The majority of undocumented Afghan migrants in Iran, Yar-Ahmadi said, are women and children. He emphasized the economic burden placed on the country’s infrastructure—particularly in areas such as food, fuel, and transportation—adding that international aid has fallen short.
Due to these pressures, he said, Iran favors the return of migrants to Afghanistan, particularly as humanitarian and development needs grow at home.
Meanwhile, the Taliban administration has called for joint meetings with Iranian officials to address the treatment of Afghan migrants and to coordinate voluntary return plans. In a recent meeting between Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s acting minister of refugees and repatriation, and Mohammad Reza Bahrami, director general for South Asia at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the Taliban urged Tehran to “treat refugees with kindness.”
The Taliban also said they are moving forward with a reintegration plan, which includes the construction of 46 residential townships inside Afghanistan to accommodate returnees.
While Iranian authorities now claim over six million Afghan migrants reside in the country, U.N. agencies estimate the number is closer to four million.
