2025 Afghan deportation from Iran
Border of Iran and Afghanistan | |
| Date | June 2025–present |
|---|---|
| Location | Afghanistan–Iran border |
| Type | Forced deportation |
| Cause | Alleged national security concerns; espionage claims |
| Participants | Iran |
| Deaths | At least 79 (Herat road crash on 19 August 2025) |
| Over 1.8 million Afghan refugees and migrants expelled (As of December 2025) | |
The 2025 deportation of Afghans from Iran is a state-led mass expulsion of Afghan migrants and refugees from Iran. While part of a broader campaign announced earlier in the year, the deportations sharply accelerated in June and July 2025, following a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that over half a million Afghans were expelled in a 16-day period, in what was described as potentially one of the largest forced movements of a population in the decade. According to sources, Iran intends to expel 4 million Afghans from Iran. As of July 2025, around 1.1 million people have been expelled.
Iranian authorities cited national security as the primary justification, leveraging unsubstantiated claims that Afghans had acted as spies for Israel during the conflict. The campaign triggered a severe humanitarian crisis at the Afghanistan–Iran border and drew widespread condemnation for its violation of international law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement.