An Iranian member of parliament has claimed there are 17mn Afghan nationals residing in Iran, while Tehran officials announced a crackdown on Afghan street vendors, highlighting ongoing tensions surrounding Afghanistan's large refugee population in the country.

Yaghoub Rezazadeh, representing Salmas in the Iranian parliament, stated on September 25 that "17mn Afghans" have been allowed to settle in Iran and benefit from Iranian subsidies. He argued this amounts to "changing the country's demographic fabric and creating a second Afghanistan on the Islamic Republic of Iran's soil."

In his parliamentary speech, Rezazadeh questioned the legality of recent policies, asking: "By what right and law have 17mn Afghans been allowed to settle in the country and use Iranian people's subsidies?" He further challenged, "The law prohibits foreign nationals from marrying Iranian women. By what logic do you intend to legalise it with the term 'religious marriage'? By what authority do you issue the right of property ownership to foreign nationals?"

Iran has hosted Afghan refugees for decades, with significant influxes occurring during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s and following the Taliban's rise to power in the 1990s. The recent Taliban takeover in August 2021 has led to renewed concerns about potential new waves of Afghan refugees entering Iran. Social media in recent years has been rife with xenophobic comments about the new incomers into the country, with many openly demanding they be sent back over the border en masse. Historically, Iranians have mostly turned a blind eye to the Afghan population, many of which are native Persian speakers from cities close to the Iranian border. Afghan men have often been employed in the building trade in Iran and are a source of human capital at the lower end of the cash-in-hand economy. 

Rezazadeh called on President Pezeshkian to take a firm stance against foreign economic sanctions in defence of Iranian national rights, stating: "I request the President to take a firm position in defence of the rights of the Iranian nation against economic sanctions by foreigners and know that America is the blood enemy of the Iranian nation."

Said Beigi, CEO of Tehran's Industries and Jobs Organisation, announced on the same day that there are no plans to issue permits for foreign nationals, primarily Afghans, to work as street vendors in Tehran in the latest tightening of restrictions on the large population now living in Iran. The number of peddlers on the streets has exploded in recent years, with many now clogging the sidewalks in the city with cheap fabrics and low-quality wares.  

Beigi stressed that any street vending by “foreign nationals,” used as a euphemism in Iran for Afghans, in public areas would face legal action. That is not a false threat; so far this year, Iranian security forces have been successfully rounding up thousands of Afghan nationals and sending them back across the border. According to Alireza Daliri, police chief of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, 1,494 Afghan migrants were arrested over the past week.

Back in Tehran, Beigi stressed that the situation needs sorting quickly as locals are getting increasingly bothered by the numbers on the streets, similar comments to what many have said recently in Europe with migrants from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

"It is not appropriate for unauthorised immigrants without legal Iranian citizenship to move around the country and use our national resources. We do not allow this," Beigi stated. He added that street vending mafias exploit most illegal foreign nationals in Iran.

Beigi elaborated on the issue of exploitation, saying: "The majority of unauthorised immigrants are exploited by street vending mafias. These individuals often occupy parts of streets for vending and are subject to exploitation."

Regarding the possibility of legal foreign residents obtaining business stalls, Beigi noted, "If legal foreign residents request stalls for business, they might be provided, although no such requests have been received so far."

The contrasting statements from Rezazadeh and Beigi highlight the complex and often contentious issue of Afghan refugees and immigrants in Iran. While Rezazadeh's claim of 17mn Afghans in Iran is significantly higher than official estimates, it reflects growing concerns among some Iranian politicians about the impact of Afghan immigration on Iranian society and resources.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that as of 2023, there were approximately 3mn Afghans in Iran, including refugees, passport holders and undocumented individuals. This figure is substantially lower than Rezazadeh's claim, highlighting the potential for political rhetoric to diverge from official statistics in discussions of immigration.

The Iranian government's approach to Afghan refugees and immigrants has varied over time, balancing humanitarian considerations with economic and security concerns. The recent statements from both Rezazadeh and Beigi suggest a hardening stance towards Afghan nationals in Iran, particularly those without legal status.

Relations between the Islamic Republic and the fledging “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” remain tense despite efforts by Tehran’s diplomats to force the Taliban to allow more voices into the government in that country.

Events hit a peak in the past week as Afghan officials reportedly insulted their Iranian hosts by not standing up to the Iranian national anthem. The head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Second Department of South Asia condemned the actions of the Afghan religious figure, stating that "the behaviour of the Taliban delegation representative does not align with the lofty goals of participating in the Islamic Unity Conference" held on September 20.

The diplomat addressed the head of the Afghan embassy and stated: “Regardless of the obvious necessity of the guest respecting the symbols of the host country, paying respect to the national anthem of the countries is an internationally recognised behaviour.”