After years of economic crisis, Iranians' frustration is increasingly directed at Afghan migrants. Under pressure to act, the government has now announced plans to deport 2 million Afghan refugees in the coming months. Iranian police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said in the next six months, some 2 million undocumented foreigners would be deported from Iran. Speaking to the Iranian news agency Young Journalists Club in an interview on Tuesday, Radan also said security forces and the Interior Ministry were working out measures that would deport "a considerable number of illegal foreigners" over the long term. When Iranian officials speak of "illegal foreigners," they usually mean migrants from Afghanistan. Iran and Afghanistan share a 900-kilometer (560-mile) long border, parts of which run through inaccessible, high mountain ranges. For over 40 years, Afghans have fled to Iran to escape civil war, poverty, and, now, the Taliban. "Afghans are cultivated people, but our country cannot receive so many migrants," Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said in an interview with Iran's state news agency on Monday. He also highlighted the difficulties people in Afghanistan face and pointed out cultural similarities with Iranians. "We plan to handle these matters in an orderly fashion and without much fuss," he said. "Our priority lies with irregular migrants." In May, the Interior Ministry announced that some 1.3 million irregular migrants had been deported to Afghanistan in the past 12 months. UNHCR: Over 4 million Afghans in Iran 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. Many do not have a legal permit, avoiding registration out of fear of being deported. Many also intend to pass through Iran while trying  to reach Europe. Given their similar languages, Afghan immigrants can easily blend into Iranian society and keep themselves afloat with the support of other undocumented migrants. Many provide cheap labor in agriculture and at construction sites, where most Iranians are unwilling to work. Meanwhile, many Iranian citizens believe undocumented Afghan workers have flooded the labor market and are a burden on the welfare system.  A heated debate over the high number of Afghan refugees has been ongoing for months. On a near-daily basis, the media reports on crimes, such as rapes and murders, allegedly perpetrated by refugees, or on the scarcity of basic foodstuffs like flour and eggs, or the infectious diseases for which irregular migrants allegedly require medical care. Petitions calling for the deportation of Afghan refugees as well as countless hate posts circulate online. Those who defend Afghan migrants are targeted with hate People like Iranian journalist and women's rights activist Jila Baniyaghoob, an Afghanistan expert, who speak out against such hostile sentiments and point out migrants' rights or bring up their precarious living conditions can quickly become targets themselves. "I constantly receive hateful messages and even death threats," she told DW. "They want to silence me." She is one of 540 journalists, lawyers, artists, doctors and activists who signed a petition calling for solidarity with Afghan migrants last year. Source: UN/UNHCR The group openly questions what they say is an organized hate campaign against migrants and warns of the unforeseeable effects such populism can have: "For a long time, this country has suffered from an economic crisis and chronic mismanagement. Since last year, the authorities have blamed problems such as overpriced foods on irregular migrants. Now, they're under pressure to act and deport on a large scale. But they're hardly able to secure the border. Many migrants will return. This problem won't be solved with hate and blame." Protests and attacks In the past months, various cities across the country have seen massive protests and arbitrary attacks on Afghan migrants. Nazar Mohammad Nazari, a young man from Afghanistan, told DW that "tempers are flaring." He had hoped for a better life in Iran. "I actually went back to Afghanistan," he added, explaining that "a few months ago, Iranians and Afghans got into a fight after a wedding and one Iranian was killed. Afterwards, there were arbitrary attacks on Afghan individuals. I didn't feel safe anymore." Aside from such attacks, migrants are always at risk of being arrested and deported. According to media reports in the past week, Afghan descendants born in Iran, with Iranian papers and little to no knowledge of Afghanistan, are also being deported. Iran is also building a wall along its northeastern border to Afghanistan, the spot where Afghans cross most. For now, the government is planning a 74-kilometer-long concrete wall, 4 meters (13 feet) high and topped with barbed wire. However, given the length of the shared border, many doubt the wall will reduce the number of irregular border crossings.

Iran on Wednesday strongly denied reports in the US media implicating Tehran in a plot to assassinate former US President Donald Trump. US broadcasters CNN and NBC reported on Tuesday that the US Secret Service had recently boosted security around Trump after receiving intelligence from an unnamed "human source" that the current Republican Presidential Candidate was the target of a potential Iranian plot. CNN said there was "no indication" the alleged plot was linked to Saturday's shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania, in which the former president was shot in the ear. How did Tehran react? Nevertheless, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on Wednesday that Iran "strongly rejects any involvement in the recent armed attack against Trump." A spokesman for Iran's ambassador to the United Nations called accusations of previous plots to kill the former president "unsubstantiated and malicious." Tehran has vowed revenge for the 2020 killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport in neighboring Iraq, for which it holds Trump responsible as US President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces at the time. Foreign ministry spokesman Kanani said that Iran remains "determined to pursue legal action against Trump for his direct role in the crime of assassinating" General Soleimani. The UN mission spokesman said that Trump "must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law," stressing it "has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice." A spokesman for the US Secret Service said the agency constantly receives new information about threats and reacts to them accordingly, but declined to comment on the reports.

Results from Friday's vote show hard-liner Saeed Jalili and reformist Masoud Pezeshkian neck-and-neck in Iran's presidential polls. The vote was to elect a successor to late President Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash. Neither of the two leaders in Iran's snap presidential elections has won outright, making a runoff necessary, the Iranian Interior Ministry said on Saturday.  Of 24.5 million ballots cast, moderate candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, had garnered 10.4 million votes, while his hard-line challenger Saeed Jalili had won 9.4 million, according to Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesman. Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf got 3.3 million, while Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had only something over 206,000 votes. The Tasnim news agency had already said a runoff election was "very likely" as the country voted for a successor to hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May. Under Iranian electoral law, a runoff between the two top candidates is held on the first Friday after the result is announced if neither wins at least 50% plus one vote from all ballots cast, including blank votes. The date thus set for the runoff is July 5. Widespread dissatisfaction The vote comes as the clerical establishment faces widespread public discontent over economic hardship and harsh restrictions on political and social freedoms. However, the Interior Ministry said the turnout for Friday's vote was historically low, at around 40%, with some analysts saying this indicates that the credibility of the country's political system has been eroded.   Only six candidates from an initial pool of 80 were approved for the election by the country's hard-line watchdog body, and two of those subsequently dropped out.  All the candidates pledged to revive the ailing economy, which has been undermined by mismanagement and state corruption, as well as international sanctions that have been reimposed since 2018 after the US withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers. The vote will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors.

The people of West Asian country Iran will vote for a new president on Friday (June 28) following Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash.  Voting is scheduled to begin at 8 am local time (10:30 am Bangladesh time) on Friday. The voting will continue till 6 pm without any break. However, if there is still voter turnout, the voting time may be extended till midnight. Last month, President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash. As a result, presidential elections are being held in the country a year ahead of schedule. According to media reports, four candidates loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are contesting in this election at a time of growing public frustration. The report said Khamenei called on the 'maximum number' of voters to cast their ballots to overcome the crisis caused by economic hardship and public dissatisfaction with political and social freedoms. However, Voter turnout has decreased in various elections in the country in the last four years, mainly due to political and social restrictions. President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19. According to the country's constitution, if a president dies, an election must be held within the next 50 days to elect a new president. 

Toomaj Salehi was jailed after supporting widespread protests sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini. His lawyer said Iran's Supreme Court ordered a retrial. Iran's Supreme Court overturned a death sentence against rapper Toomaj Salehi, the artist's lawyer said on Saturday. Salehi was jailed in October 2022 after supporting widespread protests sparked by the death of Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody. Lawyer Amir Raisian said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the court has ordered a retrial. "The Supreme Court prevented an irreparable judicial error," Raisian said. There was no immediate official confirmation of the court's decision. In April, Salehi was sentenced to death by an Iranian court for the capital offence of "corruption on Earth" and was also convicted of "assistance in sedition." What was Iran's protest movement about? Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the city of Saqqez in Iran's western Kurdistan province, was in Tehran when she was arrested by morality police over allegedly failing to observe the Islamic Republic's strict dress code by improperly wearing her hijab. Her death in police custody was followed by widespread protests and an ensuing crackdown in which hundreds of people died, including dozens of security personnel. Nine people have been executed in cases related to the protest movement involving killings and violence against security forces. Covering the neck and head has been compulsory for women in Iran since 1983. Iranian police in recent months have toughened controls on women who ignored the state-imposed dress code.

Iran on Sunday announced the six candidates, mostly conservatives, approved for the June 28 election to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash. The candidates announced by the interior ministry were selected from 80 registered hopefuls by the Guardian Council which oversees elections in the Islamic republic. Only one is from the reformist camp, while former president Mahmud Ahmadinejad was not approved. Source: BSS

Late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been buried at Iran's holiest Shiite Muslim site after days of mourning. He and eight others were killed in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran. Iran held the final day of funeral rites for its late president, Ebrahim Raisi, on Thursday, with thousands marching in the eastern city of Birjand to pay their last respects. Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash alongside his foreign minister and six others on Sunday, was buried in the afternoon at the holy shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in the country's northeast. Raisi had been widely expected to succeed Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran's supreme leader. International condolences After Raisi's death, Russia and China sent their condolences, as did Iran's allies around the region, including the Syrian government and Iran-backed militant Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Despite ongoing tensions between Iran and the West — among other things over Tehran's military aid to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine — NATO also sent "condolences to the people of Iran," while the UN Security Council observed a minute's silence. Opinion about Raisi even in Iran itself is heavily divided, with many highly critical of his ultra-conservative stances on social and religious issues and his involvement in the mass execution of an estimated 5,000 dissidents at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. His time in office was marked by mass protests, deepening economic woes and unprecedented military exchanges with archenemy Israel. Amirabdollahian, the late foreign minister, was buried in the capital Tehran on Thursday (May 24). Ban on celebration Among other things, Raisi oversaw a massive government crackdown on dissent during protests over the 2022 death of Jina Mahsa Amini in detention after she was allegedly found not wearing the headscarf mandatory for women.  Prosecutors have warned people against showing any public signs of celebrating Raisi's death.   Supreme leader Khamenei has declared five days of national mourning for Raisi's death and made Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, caretaker president until a June 28 election for Raisi's successor.  

In a tragic helicopter crash, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, alongside other officials, lost their lives en route to the provincial capital city of Tabriz. This information was confirmed in a report of Reuters on Monday (May 20). Details in comment...  

Two blasts hit Iran's main gas pipeline in what the government called a "terrorist act." Iranian officials did not immediately point the finger at the attackers. Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji said two explosions along Iran's main south-north gas pipeline network were caused by sabotage. But his televised statement made no mention of possible suspects. "This terrorist act of sabotage occurred at 1 a.m. (9.30 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday morning in the network of national gas transmission pipelines in two regions of the country," Owji on Thursday. He added that only the villages near the damaged pipeline were experiencing gas outages and that those would be fixed later today. Iranian authorities denied reports that the incident caused gas cuts to industrial plants and offices. Owji pointed to a similar incident in 2011, which he called an act of sabotage, that temporarily cut gas to four different regions of the country.   What do we know about explosions? According to the National Iranian Gas Company, the saboteurs attacked pipelines in the cities of Borujen in the southwestern provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Safashahr in the southern province of Fars. Company manager Saeed Aghli said there were no casualties. Authorities said the ensuing fires were under control in both cases. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Iranian officials did not immediately assign blame. In 2017, Iranian Arab separatists claimed to have bombed two oil pipelines in coordinated attacks in the western Khuzestan region. Iran has also generally blamed agents of its arch-foe Israel for similar acts of sabotage in the past.

Iran threatened Wednesday to “decisively respond” to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic following President Joe Biden's linking of Tehran to the killing of three U.S. soldiers at a military base in Jordan. The U.S. has signaled it is preparing for retaliatory strikes in the Mideast in the wake of the Sunday drone attack that also injured at least 40 troops at Tower 22, a secretive base in northeastern Jordan that's been crucial to the American presence in neighboring Syria. However, concerns remain that any additional American strikes could further inflame a region already roiled by Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea. A U.S. Navy destroyer in the waterway shot down an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the Houthis late Tuesday, the latest attack targeting American forces patrolling the key maritime trade route, officials said. The Iranian warnings first came from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He gave a briefing to Iranian journalists late Tuesday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “The Islamic Republic would decisively respond to any attack on the county, its interests and nationals under any pretexts,” IRNA quoted Iravani as saying. He described any possible Iranian retaliation as a “strong response,” without elaborating. The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not respond to requests for comment or elaboration Wednesday on Iravani's remarks. Iravani also denied that Iran and the U.S. had exchanged any messages over the last few days, either through intermediaries or directly. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera, which is based in and funded by Qatar, reported earlier that such communication had taken place. Qatar often serves as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran. “Such messages have not been exchanged," Iravani said. But Iran's government has taken note of the U.S. threats of retaliation for the attack on the base in Jordan. “Sometime, our enemies raise the threat and nowadays we hear some threats in between words by American officials," Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami, who answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said at an event Wednesday. "We tell them that you have experienced us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat without an answer.” “We are not after war, but we have no fear of war,” he added, according to IRNA. On Saturday, a general in charge of Iran's air defenses described them as being at their “highest defensive readiness.” That raises concerns for commercial aviation traveling through and over Iran as well. After a U.S. drone strike killed a top general in 2020, Iranian air defenses mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board. Meanwhile, attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continue in the Red Sea, most recently targeting a U.S. warship. The missile launched Tuesday night targeted the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement. “There were no injuries or damage reported,” the statement said. A Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed the attack in a statement Wednesday morning, calling it “a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and a response to the American-British aggression against our country.” Saree claimed the Houthis fired “several” missiles. something not acknowledged by the U.S. Navy. Houthi claims have been exaggerated in the past, and their missiles sometimes crash on land and fail to reach their targets. The Houthis claimed without evidence on Monday to have targeted the USS Lewis B. Puller, a floating landing base used by the Navy SEALs and others. The U.S. said there had been no attack. Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe. The Houthis hit a commercial vessel with a missile on Friday, sparking a fire that burned for hours. The U.S. and the United Kingdom have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes targeting the Houthis as allied warships patrol the waterways affected by the attacks. The European Union also plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks to help defend cargo ships against the Houthi attacks, the bloc’s top diplomat said Wednesday.   Source: Time