KABUL — The bodies of a young Afghan couple have been discovered in the basement of a shop in Qiamdasht, a district in eastern Tehran, amid growing concerns over violence against Afghan migrants and ongoing mass deportations from Iran.
Iranian news agency Rokna reported that the couple was found dead on Sunday night. Initial police investigations suggest they may have succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning after entering the basement where a generator was running. The man was reportedly a worker at the shop.
“Preliminary findings indicated that the man and woman had gone downstairs, and after the generator was switched on, they likely suffered gas poisoning,” Rokna said. However, due to the suspicious circumstances, Tehran’s criminal investigation department has arrested the shop owner and launched a broader inquiry into potential foul play.
The bodies have been transferred to the forensic medical department for a full autopsy.
Authorities say the detained shop owner remains in police custody as detectives investigate possible criminal involvement.
The case comes at a time of escalating pressure on Afghan refugees and migrants in Iran. Since late 2023, Tehran has intensified deportation campaigns, expelling hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans in what Iranian officials describe as an effort to regulate migration. According to the Iranian Interior Ministry, over a million Afghans were deported in the past year alone.
UN organizations have warned that many of those returned face persecution under Taliban rule or lack access to basic services in Afghanistan. At the same time, reports of anti-Afghan sentiment, discrimination, and violent incidents inside Iran have surged.
This latest discovery follows a string of cases involving Afghan victims. In one recent case, the dismembered body of 22-year-old Afghan woman Kobra Rezai was found in Tehran and an Iranian man was arrested in connection with her death. Just days earlier, another Afghan woman and her children were found murdered in a residential building in the capital.
Rights groups say such incidents reflect a climate of growing hostility and vulnerability for Afghan migrants in Iran, fueled in part by inflammatory rhetoric from public officials and sensationalist media coverage. Migrants have reported increasing difficulty accessing housing, employment, and health services, while many fear arbitrary detention or violence.
With nearly four million Afghans estimated to be living in Iran, both documented and undocumented, activists are calling for international pressure on Tehran to uphold refugee protections and ensure accountability for crimes targeting migrants.
