Afghans in Iran
Afghans in Iran (Persian: افغانها در ایران) are citizens of Afghanistan who are temporarily residing in Iran as refugees or asylum seekers. They form the largest percent of the Afghan diaspora. The first wave of Afghans were admitted to Iran after the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979.
افغانها در ایران | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| c. 5-6 million (estimate) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tehran province, Khorasan Razavi province, Qom province, Isfahan province, Kerman province, Fars province | |
| Languages | |
| Dari (Persian), Pashto, and other languages of Afghanistan | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (Sunni and Shia) |
According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are approximately 3 million Afghan citizens in Iran as of January 2023, most of whom were born and raised in Iran during the last four decades. They are under the care and protection of the UNHCR, and are provided time-limited legal status by Iran's Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrant Affairs, without a path to obtain permanent residency. There are also about 600,000 Afghan tourists, travelers, merchants, exchanged students, migrant workers, and others. According to Hassan Kazemi Qomi, half of Iran's foreign investors are Afghans.
There have been widespread reports of Iranian mistreatment of Afghan migrants and their human rights, and the community is very marginalized. In 2006, about 146,387 undocumented Afghans were deported. Many more continue to experience such events. In 2010, six Afghan prisoners were executed by hanging in the streets of Iran, which sparked angry demonstrations in Afghanistan.