Illegal Afghan Immigrants Must Be Deported, Says Iranian Interior Minister

Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of Iran, said that "illegal" Afghan immigrants should leave Iran. "We will organise those who have legal residence permits and have visas," he added.

While making such statements, he also said that “hypocrites” are fanning differences between Iranian people and Afghan immigrants.

According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), on the sidelines of the Iranian cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Vahidi explained, "Iran helped these people and gave them facilities so that their students could go to schools. However, some people are trying to turn the good relations between the people of the two countries into a challenge, and this is definitely the design of the enemies of the two countries."

Meanwhile, the Iranian interior minister admitted that some Iranian citizens have concerns about organising the immigrants. He stressed that these concerns are legitimate, and refugees should be organised.

Vahidi previously blamed the "enemy's intelligence services" for Iranian society’s anti-Afghan immigrant rhetoric following the increase in harassment of Afghan immigrants in Iran.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic always hold the intelligence services of other countries responsible for all the anomalies and protests in Iran.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled to neighbouring countries, including Iran.