The United Nations has announced that in just 16 days following the end of military clashes between Iran’s regime and Israel, more than 500,000 Afghan nationals were expelled from Iran. Observers have called this one of the largest forced displacements of population in the past decade.
According to CNN, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that from June 24 to July 9, at least 508,426 Afghans exited Iran through its border crossings with Afghanistan. The organization warned that nearly 65,000 people were returned to Afghanistan on just Tuesday and Wednesday of the past week, and that this pace accelerated after Iran imposed a deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave.
Officials of Iran’s regime had previously announced in March the launch of a plan to deport undocumented Afghan migrants. However, the sudden acceleration of this plan came after the 12-day war between the Iranian regime and Israel—a conflict that began with Israeli airstrikes targeting IRGC positions and nuclear facilities, followed by Iran launching missile attacks on Israeli territory.
NCRI Statement: #Iranian Political Prisoners Beaten, Forcibly Transferred, and Deprived of Medical Carehttps://t.co/O5Vojf4y80
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 10, 2025
In recent weeks, some state-run Iranian media have accused Afghan nationals of collaborating with Israeli intelligence, without providing any evidence. Observers say this narrative may be an attempt by the Iranian regime to deflect public attention from internal crises and justify the crackdown on a vulnerable migrant community.
Surge in Forced Returns and Dire Conditions at Border
According to Myhyang Park, head of the IOM office in Iran, half of all returns in the current year occurred after June 1 alone.
She added that in just one week in July, 250,000 Afghans were returned from Iran, including around 400 unaccompanied or separated children.
Images from the Islam Qala crossing—one of Afghanistan’s busiest border points with Iran—show tens of thousands of migrants waiting under harsh conditions and 40-degree heat to either cross or have their documents processed. Many of them had lived in Iran for years, working in difficult and low-paying jobs.
Testimonies of Abuse and Extortion in Detention Centers
Some of the returnees have shared accounts of their experiences with Iranian security forces and detention. Bashir, a young Afghan man interviewed at Islam Qala, said he was arrested in Tehran and was forced to pay 120 million rials (equivalent to 12 million tomans) as extortion before being transferred to a detention center in the south of the city.
He claimed that in the detention center, detainees were not provided with food or drinking water and were repeatedly beaten and insulted.
Ongoing Arrests, Broadcast of Televised Confessions, and International Reactions
Recently, state-run Iranian media have aired “televised confessions” in which an Afghan individual allegedly admits to providing information about certain locations to a person residing in Germany in exchange for $2,000. No identity or evidence was presented to substantiate the claims.
In another video, police officers are seen detaining a group of migrants, who the reporter claims are Afghans. They are taken away to an undisclosed location without any explanation.
These actions have drawn international criticism.
Nevertheless, Fatemeh Mohajerani, the government spokesperson, told Reuters that “we have always tried to be good hosts, but national security is a priority, and naturally, undocumented foreigners must be returned.”
