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Tension between Iran and the Taliban: Tehran deports 1.2 million Afghans in six months

The policy has generated controversy, especially following allegations by the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Tehran plans to expel another 800,000 over the next few months.

Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.

Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.Wikimedia Commons.

Leandro Fleischer
Published by
Leandro Fleischer

The Iranian government has stepped up its migration policy with the deportation of 1.2 million Afghan nationals in the past six months, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said.

Authorities plan to expel another 800,000 before March 2026, which would bring the total to about 2 million deportees in a year, out of the approximately 6 million Afghans currently residing in the country.

Momeni explained that these measures are part of a strategy to regularize the situation of foreigners, focusing on those without valid residency permits. The policy has generated controversy, especially following denunciations by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Tensions between the two countries

In late July, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Jan Muttaqi held a conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, in which he called for more humane treatment of deported Afghans. Muttaqi criticized the lack of coordination in the expulsions and pointed to cases of alleged maltreatment of those affected, which has generated tensions between the two countries.

According to estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 250,000 Afghans were deported in June alone. However, Taliban government sources put this figure at 600,000, an increase they attribute to the 12 days of fighting between Iran and Israel, which is said to have accelerated the deportations.

The situation highlights the migration challenges in the region, as thousands of Afghans face forced return in a context of political instability and diplomatic tensions.

Iran asks the Taliban for help in capturing alleged British intelligence collaborators to serve as 'bargaining chips' in nuclear talks

Tehran has asked the Taliban for access to a leaked database containing the names of thousands of Afghans who collaborated with the U.K. during the protracted war in Afghanistan, in the hope of identifying suspected MI6 spies, British newspaper The Telegraph reported. This maneuver, led by the Iranian Guardians of the Revolution, seeks to use these collaborators as exchange currency in renewed nuclear negotiations with European powers, amid a threat by the United Kingdom, Germany and France to reimpose international sanctions on Iran before the end of the month if a new nuclear deal is not reached.

According to The Telegraph, the database contains the names of 25,000 Afghans who worked with the British Army or were linked to U.K. intelligence services, including soldiers in Afghanistan and officials in the Kabul government that collapsed in 2021 after the Taliban's rapid reconquest.

The leak occurred accidentally in February 2022, when a British soldier mistakenly sent the full file to Afghan contacts in the U.K., rather than a shortened version. Although the Taliban obtained the list that same year, the British government was not aware of the leak until August 2023. In response, London evacuated some 900 high-risk Afghans on the list, along with 3,600 of their family members, at a cost of approximately $2.7 billion. This operation, kept secret under a publication restriction order lifted last month, sparked a major controversy in the United Kingdom.

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