Iran walls off part of border with Afghanistan: media

Iran builds wall along eastern border with Afghanistan to control immigration flow and increase security, amid increasing pressure on refugees.

Iran's military has built a wall along more than 10 km of its eastern border with Afghanistan, the main entry point for immigrants, local media reported on Monday (September 23, 2024).

"More than 10 km of walls have been built on the border, and another 50 km are ready to be walled off," Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) said, citing General Nozar Nemati, deputy commander of army ground forces.

Iran shares a more than 900-km border with Afghanistan, and the Islamic Republic hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world. This comprises mostly well-integrated Afghans who arrived over the past 40 years after fleeing conflict in their home country.

The flow of Afghan immigrants has increased since the Taliban took over in August 2021 after U.S. forces withdrew.

Tehran has not given official figures for the number of Afghan immigrants, but member of parliament Abolfazl Torabi has estimated their number at "between six and seven million".

The authorities have recently increased pressure on "illegal" refugees, regularly announcing expulsions through the eastern border.

"By blocking the border, we want to control the country's entries and exits" and "better increase the security of border areas", General Nemati said.