Iran’s Industry & Trade Minister To Visit Kabul

Saeed Montazerolmahdi, spokesperson for Faraja, told Mehr News Agency on Sunday that in the year 2024, over 1.12 million “undocumented foreign nationals” were identified and expelled.

The large-scale operation was carried out through more than 1,090 coordinated enforcement plans across Iran, targeting individuals without valid residency documents.

While the nationalities of the deported migrants were not specified, Iran’s Foreign Ministry has previously estimated that between 2 and 2.5 million undocumented Afghan nationals are currently residing in the country. According to the Ministry of Interior, these individuals are to be returned to Afghanistan.

Ahmad Masoumifar, head of the Foreign Ministry’s northeast regional office, stated earlier that deportation of these migrants does not require coordination with any other country. He emphasised that under Iranian policy, undocumented Afghans must leave—either voluntarily or by enforcement.

Masoumifar added that the Taliban government “understands this policy” and does not defend those who have entered Iran illegally. He also said Iran has shown “generosity” toward migrants over the past three years, but now that Afghanistan has achieved “relative stability,” there is no longer justification for their continued presence.

Afghanistan was highlighted as particularly dangerous. The FCDO described the situation there as “volatile,” noting that travel across the country is extremely hazardous and border crossings may be closed without notice.

Key risks cited in the advisory include armed conflict, arbitrary detention, political instability, and natural disasters.

The countries listed in the warning are Afghanistan, Iran, South Sudan, Russia, Haiti, Belarus, Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

For Iran, the advisory specifically warned that British and dual British-Iranian nationals are at heightened risk of arrest and detention. “Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you,” the statement said.

Russia was also named due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The FCDO cited a high likelihood of terrorist attacks, drone strikes, Russian air defence activity, and limited availability of return flights to the UK as primary concerns.

In the past 24 hours, Punjab police arrested over 2,772 Afghan nationals. More than 1,300 of them were deported. Separately, the Deputy Commissioner of Khyber District reported that around 1,100 Afghan migrants were identified and deported yesterday.

Under current directives, all police stations are required to submit daily reports on migrant detentions. These reports are forwarded to senior officials through the security division to ensure close monitoring of deportation efforts.

According to The News, police officers have been warned that delays or negligence in the process will lead to disciplinary action. Stations have also been instructed to manage deportation operations in rotating shifts to maintain continuous oversight and control.

This campaign is part of Pakistan’s wider enforcement of a new immigration policy. The government says the measures are necessary to address national security threats and to remove all undocumented foreign nationals.

However, human rights organisations have criticised the deportations. They say migrants face mistreatment and are being removed without proper legal procedures.

At the Torkham border, customs officials and other sources told The News that vehicles carrying Afghan families and goods must now have valid Temporary Admission Documents (TAD). Without these, they will be denied entry into Afghanistan.

Drivers transporting Afghan families from various cities have been advised to obtain the necessary documentation in advance. Cargo from vehicles without TADs will need to be offloaded and reloaded onto other vehicles for further transport into Afghan cities.

Speaking at the opening of a new terminal in the Pul-e-Charkhi area of Kabul on Saturday, Jalali criticised the treatment of Afghan migrants abroad. He alleged that both Pakistan and Iran have harassed Afghans, confiscated their property, and expelled them unfairly.

“Afghans have earned their property and assets in these countries through hard work,” he said. “But now their belongings are being taken away and they are being forcibly expelled.”

Jalali called on Afghan migrants to return and invest in the country’s reconstruction. He urged them to contribute to Afghanistan’s development rather than endure abuse abroad.

According to Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), Jalali accused Pakistan in particular of being unable to accept Afghanistan’s progress and of mistreating migrants out of hostility.

Both Iran and Pakistan have hosted millions of Afghan refugees for decades. However, in recent months they have stepped up arrests and deportations, creating increasingly difficult conditions for Afghan nationals.

Pakistan has already expelled over 800,000 Afghans and plans to deport up to three million by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that over 1.2 million Afghans returned from Iran in 2024, with 67 percent of them forcibly deported.

Nader Yarahmadi, head of Iran’s Ministry of Interior’s Centre for Foreign Nationals and Migrants Affairs, said that more than three million Afghans have been deported from Iran over the past three years.

“It’s a horrible atmosphere,” he told the Daily Mail. “The nearest thing to hell I can imagine.”

The 79-year-old is being held with violent criminals, including a man who murdered his wife and three children. Despite the circumstances, Reynolds has urged his family not to pay any ransom. In phone calls shared with The Sunday Times, he said that even millions of dollars would not change the situation. He insisted the Taliban must acknowledge their mistake.

Reynolds also expressed concern for his 75-year-old wife, Barbie, who is detained in the women’s section of the same prison. The couple have asked for daily visitation rights, but these requests have been repeatedly denied.

The Taliban arrested the couple in February while they were returning to their home in Bamiyan. They are accused of carrying forged passports. Both were brought separately to court in Kabul, but after a four-hour wait, the hearing was cancelled. No new date has been announced.

Their youngest son, Jonathan Reynolds—an American citizen—spoke in a video outside the White House, appealing to former President Donald Trump for help. He said his parents are being held without charges. Jonathan highlighted that the family has lived in the US for 26 years and that Peter and Barbie have 13 American children and grandchildren.

He also pointed to the recent release of Faye Hall, a US citizen arrested with the Reynolds couple, in a deal made with the American government.

According to The Telegraph, the couple may have become pawns in an internal Taliban power struggle. Their arrest was reportedly ordered by a commander from the Haqqani network.

A senior Taliban official told the newspaper: “This is part of a broader plan to sideline [leader Hibatullah Akhundzada] and position Haqqani as a more West-facing figure by releasing foreign nationals.”

Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years. They hold dual British-Afghan citizenship and founded Rebuild, an organisation delivering educational programmes for both governmental and non-governmental institutions.