Iran says refugees can return home if they have not committed 'crimes'
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that refugees can return to the country without facing legal consequences, as long as they have not committed offenses.
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that refugees can return to the country without facing legal consequences, as long as they have not committed offenses.
“Conditions for the entry of Iranian refugees have been prepared … provided they have not committed other criminal acts,” Hossein Nooshabadi, the ministry’s director general for parliamentary and legal affairs, told the semi-official ILNA news agency.
"Seeking asylum is not considered a crime," Nooshabadi added.
His remarks came after a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and lawmakers, where officials discussed expanding engagement with Iranians abroad, including the possibility of postal or electronic voting in future presidential elections.
Nooshabadi added that Iran would provide consular services to citizens abroad “regardless of their political views.”
While Iran says it welcomes the return of refugees, the country’s laws criminalize a wide range of behavior — including political dissent, activism, homosexuality, and refusal to comply with compulsory hijab rules — the same issues that have led many Iranians to seek asylum abroad.
Pop singer Amir Tataloo, who lived in exile in Turkey for about four years before returning to Iran in 2023, was arrested upon his return and on blasphemy charges.
Iranian media reports in August said the judiciary is reviewing the case for a possible pardon after accepting his repentance. Though he remains imprisoned in Iran.
In June, former Iranian diplomats and embassy staff members told Iran International that the Islamic Republic uses its overseas missions to covertly surveil dissidents and fund influence operations via state-backed cultural initiatives.
A 2014 report by UK-based IranWire said Iranian embassies in Europe have refused consular services to critics and opponents of the Islamic Republic living abroad.
Human rights groups have documented widespread repression inside Iran, including arbitrary arrests, forced confessions, and prosecutions of peaceful critics.
In reports this year, they have documented widespread repression inside Iran, including arbitrary arrests, forced confessions and prosecutions of peaceful critics.
