Iran has issued a sweeping directive asking all undocumented Afghan nationals to leave the country by July 6 or face arrest and deportation, triggering one of the largest forced return crises in the region. The order, first announced in late May, affects an estimated 4 million Afghans currently living in Iran without valid legal status. Many of them hold expired temporary permits or registration cards that the Iranian authorities no longer recognize, placing them at imminent risk of detention and removal. Iranian officials have insisted that only those with valid temporary residency documents are allowed to remain, while all others must exit voluntarily. The move is being framed as part of a broader national effort to reclaim control over the domestic labor market, relieve pressure on public services, and address alleged security threats.
Senior Iranian officials, including Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi Azad, have warned that legal action will be taken against Afghans who overstay the deadline, particularly accusing some of collaborating with Israeli intelligence in the wake of Iran’s recent military tensions with Israel. These sweeping and unsubstantiated allegations have intensified fears among Afghan migrants who already face discrimination, limited access to services, and economic hardships. The Iranian government claims it spends nearly $10 billion annually to support foreign nationals and has pointed to deteriorating economic conditions—marked by inflation and unemployment—as justification for the clampdown. As a result, massive numbers of Afghans have been leaving the country under duress in recent weeks, with over 230,000 reported to have crossed the border between June 1 and June 28 alone, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This includes nearly 132,000 returnees recorded just in the last week of June, signaling a sharp rise in the daily outflow or directions say face arrest.
The situation has overwhelmed Afghan border provinces, particularly Herat, where most returnees arrive. Aid agencies on the ground report that many of the deported families arrive in dire condition, carrying little to no belongings and in desperate need of food, shelter, and medical care. Most are women and children, many of whom were either born in Iran or have spent most of their lives there. Afghan authorities, under the Taliban-led regime, have said they are making efforts to support returnees at reception centers, but resources are extremely limited. The humanitarian infrastructure in Afghanistan is already stretched thin due to ongoing poverty, unemployment, and insufficient international aid. According to the UNHCR, more than 1.2 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan so far in 2025, with the vast majority of them forcibly removed.
The international community has expressed concern over the scale and speed of these deportations. Rights groups and UN agencies have urged both Iran and Pakistan to halt forced returns, warning that Afghanistan is ill-equipped to absorb such large numbers, especially without adequate housing, jobs, or access to education and healthcare. Aid groups have also highlighted the psychological trauma many returnees are facing, having been uprooted from lives they built over decades in Iran. Despite calls for a more humane and phased return policy, the July 6 deadline has now passed, leaving millions of Afghans uncertain about their fate or face face arrest. With Iran signaling no intention to delay enforcement, the coming weeks are expected to witness a further spike in expulsions, compounding an already dire humanitarian emergency across the Afghanistan-Iran border.
