Iran targets Afghan migrants amid post-ceasefire crackdown

Iran has launched a sweeping crackdown on Afghan migrants in the wake of a temporary ceasefire with Israel, targeting them for deportation and alleged security threats, according to officials and media reports.

“All unauthorized foreigners must exit the country,” the national police command was instructed, according to Iranian state media.

“Any home or property rented to Afghans will have its lease annulled and the property sealed and confiscated,” Border police chief Brigadier General Ahmad-Ali Goudarzi warned.

Afghans targeted in phone seizures after ceasefire

The directive follows a wider security sweep across Iran, with Afghan migrants increasingly targeted for alleged ties to Israel.

According to Afghanistan International, Iranian police in multiple cities have been confiscating Afghan migrants’ mobile phones, claiming suspicion of “communication with Israel.”

Eyewitnesses told Afghanistan International that plainclothes and uniformed officers have raided workplaces and migrant housing, issuing receipts for seized phones and telling migrants they could retrieve them after weeks.

Migrants, even those with valid residency, reported being stopped at checkpoints or unable to travel to work out of fear of arrest.

Hundreds detained, mass deportations underway

Iran has arrested around 700 people on suspicion of collaborating with Israel in recent weeks. State media has broadcast forced confessions, including from two individuals identified as Afghan nationals from Badakhshan. The circumstances of the confessions remain unclear.

Tehran’s provincial governor, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian, said arrests and deportations of Afghan migrants have increased three to fourfold. Taliban officials in Herat said over 30,000 Afghans were deported or returned voluntarily on a single day this week.

Taliban authorities have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis in western Afghanistan due to the rapid influx.