📌 Tehran, IRNA - Iran’s refugee affairs chief criticized international support for hosting refugees as insufficient, stressing that the country has continued providing public services to millions of refugees and migrants despite sanctions and attacks.
Speaking at the 77th annual session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (ExCom) in Geneva, Nader Yar-Ahmadi, head of Iran’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs, stressed that over decades of hosting, Iran has consistently prioritized the rights and human dignity of refugees and foreign migrants.
Referring to Afghan nationals’ access to Iran’s education and healthcare services, he said that 59,658 Afghan students are currently studying at Iranian universities and scientific centers, and a significant number of Afghan nationals have also graduated from Iran’s higher education institutions.
Yar-Ahmadi stressed that the international community must fulfill its shared responsibility to adequately support host countries.
He called for a fair distribution of the responsibility for hosting refugees, increased financial support from the international community, proportionate allocation of resources, and the removal of obstacles preventing host countries from accessing development aid.
“In recent years, the financial needs of the UNHCR operation in Iran were estimated at around $140 million, but less than one-tenth of that amount was realized in 2025,” he added.
Meanwhile, Barham Salih, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, expressed gratitude to Iran for its generous and non-discriminatory hosting of refugees over past decades.
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