Iran ‘May Send Hundreds of Thousands of Afghan Refugees to Iraq and Turkey’

Kokcha News Agency: The Guardian wrote on [Day of the week removed as it is after today’s date] that Tehran’s multi-layered strategy includes expanding its missile program, strengthening its air defenses, and suspending cooperation with UN nuclear inspectors.

The British newspaper writes that the threat to send refugees westward is reminiscent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s warning that he would send millions of Syrian refugees to Europe.

According to statistics, Iran has hosted about six million Afghan refugees at times. However, Amnesty International reported that in 2025, one million of these refugees were deported to Afghanistan; people who had previously left their country to escape poverty or Taliban rule.

Amnesty International stated that these widespread deportations intensified after the 12-day war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, and it is estimated that 500,000 Afghans have been returned across the border since the end of the war.

Officials of the Islamic Republic have provided different statistics on the number of Afghan refugees in Iran, but it is estimated that at least two million people are present in Iran without official documents.

Also, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts that up to four million Afghans may be deported to Afghanistan this year.

On [Date removed as it is after today’s date], some diplomatic and security sources warned that the ISIS group could exploit the widespread expulsion of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan for its own purposes.

Hans-Jakob Schindler, former coordinator of the UN Committee for Monitoring Militant Groups, warned in an interview with Agence France-Presse: “The risk that ISIS-Khorasan will consider the newly arrived Afghans as a potential source for recruitment is high.”

He added that ISIS-Khorasan has been recruiting from dissatisfied Taliban members and Afghans who have no place in the new government structure since [Date removed as it is after today’s date].

A European diplomatic source also told Agence France-Presse: “We know that some Afghans join terrorist groups not out of conviction, but out of economic necessity.”

In [Month removed as it is after today’s date], UN experts warned against the mass and forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan and called for an immediate halt to the process.