Eskandar Momeni, Iran's Interior Minister, has called on Afghan migrants residing in Iran to "return to their own country and work to rebuild it”.

Speaking during a televised programme about the "Regulation of Foreign Nationals" plan, Momeni stated, "Iran cannot handle this volume of migration”.

He added, "The priority is to remove those who have entered illegally and without permission. This is the case worldwide, and migrants must respect the regulations of the host country."

On Monday evening, Momeni blamed Afghan migrants for increasing unemployment in Iran, saying, "Many job opportunities are being snatched”. He expressed hope that Afghan migrants would return to Afghanistan.

Earlier, Momeni had announced that a comprehensive plan to regulate Afghans in Iran would soon be formulated and implemented. He stated, "This complete plan will be implemented with an appropriate strategy, taking regional and neighbourly considerations into account."

The Mehr News Agency reported that last Thursday, during a visit to the Sang Siah neighbourhood in Shiraz, the Iranian Interior Minister emphasised on the need to regulate Afghan migrants in the country.

Momeni, who was recently appointed as the Interior Minister of Iran, had previously announced during a parliamentary session that his first priority would be to expel illegal and undocumented migrants. He has not provided further details about the comprehensive plan for Afghans in Iran.

However, in July, before becoming Interior Minister, Momeni had stated during a session of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the parliament that the solution to preventing the influx of migrants was to close the borders. At the time, he announced that plans would be made to implement this strategy.

In his televised interview, Momeni reiterated the need for a unified closure of the borders, stating that the armed forces had already begun work on sealing the entirety of Iran's borders.

Earlier, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian also stressed on the importance of closing the border with Afghanistan during his election campaign.

Since the fall of the previous Afghan government, hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens have migrated to neighbouring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan. Over the past three years, both countries have deported hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants.

In July, the Sharq newspaper reported the arrest of several Afghan teenagers between the ages of 10 and 17, despite them possessing legal documents. The report highlighted the increasingly complex situation regarding the treatment of migrants in Iran.

Quoting social activists, the report noted that while deporting unaccompanied children under 18 and women is illegal, such incidents are still occurring.
A video showing the rough treatment of an Afghan migrant teenager named "Seyed Mehdi" by an Iranian police officer in Damavand was published by Afghanistan International recently too.

The video clip sparked reactions on social media, with users comparing the officer's knee on the teenager's neck to the case of George Floyd, whose death in the United States in 2020 led to widespread protests.