Official Hails Peaceful Coexistence of Afghan Migrants, Iranians
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The head of the Iranian Judiciary's High Council for Human Rights hailed the peaceful coexistence of Afghan refugees and Iranians as a new model in immigration.
During a meeting with Afghan migrants at “Kabul House” in Tehran on Thursday, Ali Bagheri Kani said that the peaceful coexistence of Afghan migrants and Iranians has presented a new model.
He further noted that the two nations enjoy religious, cultural, and civilizational commonality.
The Iranian official pointed out that the similarities are so great that a magnifying glass should be used to find the differences in the relations of the two nations.
If the West had sold tractors to the Afghan people instead of sending tanks to the country, after 20 years "we would have witnessed a safe and economically developing state”, he underscored.
He went on to say that the illegitimate interests of the West in Afghanistan have only led to the existence of terrorism and insecurity, as well as economic backwardness.
Iran spends eight billion dollars on Afghan migrants every year in various sectors.
According to the latest official figures, 951,142 Afghan refugees reside in Iran. In addition to the refugees, there are around 2.5 million Afghan nationals living in Iran, inclusive of passport holders and undocumented Afghans.
The UN refugee agency has, on numerous occasions, praised Iran for hosting Afghan refugees for more than four decades.
Tehran has repeatedly complained that countries which caused the displacement of Afghans must accept responsibility and help cover the costs.
Washington invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban-run government in 2001 on the pretext of fighting terrorism following the September 11 attacks.
The Taliban, however, never stopped their attacks, citing foreign military presence as one of the main reasons behind the continued militancy.