KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Nader YarAhmadi, head of Iran’s Centre for Foreign Nationals and Migrants Affairs, has stated that nearly 2,000 Afghan doctors are currently working in Iran, including 700 specialists and subspecialists.
In an interview with Khabar Online, YarAhmadi also noted that some Afghan university professors are employed under contracts with various Iranian universities.
“The presence of undocumented Afghan nationals in our country has created challenges. At times, when we seek to utilize legally residing professionals, the environment is not always conducive,” he said.
This statement comes amid Afghanistan’s worsening healthcare crisis, exacerbated by the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 14.3 million people in Afghanistan—primarily women and children—will require healthcare assistance in 2024.
Following the Taliban takeover, migration surged, with Iran and Pakistan becoming primary destinations for Afghan refugees seeking safety from persecution, repression, and economic instability. Many of those fleeing included doctors and specialists.
In recent years, Iran has intensified the deportation of Afghan migrants. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that over 1.2 million undocumented Afghan migrants have returned from Iran to Afghanistan in 2024, with 67% of these classified as forced deportations.
Iranian authorities have announced plans to deport two million undocumented Afghan migrants by the end of this year, while similar mass expulsions continue in Pakistan.
