Director of the Iranian Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants' Affairs (BAFIA) of Khorasan Razavi Governorate said that 270,000 Afghan refugees were returned to Afghanistan in the first half of this year through the Dogharoun border.

According to Hossein Sharafati Rad, this number was calculated through statistics from 11 provinces.

"The repatriation of Afghan citizens from Khorasan Razavi province has also increased by 40 percent since the beginning of this year to the end of September compared to the same period last year," the Iranian official told IRNA news agency during his visit to Taybad on Thursday.

He added that identifying unauthorised foreign nationals throughout Iran and deporting them to their country by the end of this year is one of the most important plans of the Ministry of Interior.

The Director General of Aliens and Foreign Immigrants of Khorasan Razavi Governorate also said that no "authorised or unauthorised" Afghan citizen has the right to live and work in the province's seven border cities.

The Iranian official also announced the education of 60,000 authorised foreign students for boys and girls in Khorasan Razavi province. However, he said that 5,000 students have not yet been able to register because their degrees are not complete.

Regarding the employment of Afghan citizens in Iran, Sharafati Rad said, "75 percent of Afghan immigrants live and work in Iran."

According to the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants of Khorasan Razavi, Mashhad has the highest number of foreign immigrants after Tehran, nearly 400,000 of whom have identity and residency documents.