Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that foreigners living in the country illegally will be returned “with respect”.
In the first press conference after his inauguration as president, Pezeshkian said that so far three Security Council meetings have been held on the issue of Afghan immigrants.
“Some of them have passports, they have connections. Naturally, they should be treated in a particular way. Some of them have come against the law, and they have to follow legal framework. One cannot enter illegally. There is a framework for presence in any country, even in Islamic countries. For example, if we go to Afghanistan without a passport, they might not let us in,” he said.
“As I have already said, we are brothers but following a series of frameworks between governments is a rule that we must follow, and we are in the process of setting this legal framework between Islamic countries,” he added.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates that nearly 4.5 million Afghan nationals currently live in Iran. According to Iranian news agencies, however, the real number could be as high as 6 million or 8 million.