Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's foreign minister, called Afghan immigrants a "serious challenge" for Iran's public resources, including health and education, and demanded their return to their country.
He stated that Iran cannot continue providing services to Afghans, many of whom are trying to immigrate to Europe.
In a speech at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Amir-Abdollahian said, "The plight of Afghan refugees cannot be resolved without their return to their home country."
He asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, neighbouring countries, donor countries, and other interested parties to cooperate effectively with Afghanistan in order to create necessary economic, security and political infrastructure to attract refugees back to their country.
The Iranian foreign minister called the Taliban as primarily responsible for the preparations for the return of Afghans to their country.
Amir-Abdollahian said that despite the "inhuman sanctions of the United States”, the people of Iran have generously shared their limited resources with the Afghan refugees. However, he added that Iran is facing "increasing pressure" on its limited national resources to help an influx of Afghan refugees.
He stated, "This is an unprecedented challenge as our public infrastructure in the healthcare system, basic education, employment, energy, and water sectors are under immense pressure due to the huge number of refugees."
Earlier, an Iranian official had said that they had raised the issue of the return of Afghan immigrants to their country during the visit of a Taliban delegation. However, the group requested for additional time from Iran.
Over the past two months, Taliban has been facing serious challenges with the deportation of immigrants from Pakistan.
According to the interior minister of Pakistan, nearly half a million undocumented Afghan migrants have left Pakistan in the past two months.
