KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Iran has transferred 408 Afghan nationals serving sentences in Iranian prisons to Taliban authorities, the Taliban-run Afghanistan embassy in Tehran said on Thursday.
In a statement, the embassy said the prisoners were handed over during an official ceremony after their identities were verified. It described the transfer as the 11th round under the agreement, originally signed during Afghanistan’s former government before the Taliban takeover.
The embassy said the individuals had been convicted and were serving their sentences, but provided no details on the specific charges or length of terms. It added that the transfer process will continue in the coming days.
Most Afghans held in Iranian prisons have been convicted of drug-related offences, according to previous statements by Iranian officials. Iran maintains some of the region’s strictest anti-narcotics laws and regularly executes Afghan nationals for trafficking and possession.
This latest handover follows multiple earlier phases in recent years, during which Iran has returned hundreds of Afghan prisoners to Taliban-controlled prisons so they can serve the remainder of their sentences there.
The overall number of Afghan nationals currently detained in Iran remains unclear. Taliban officials have previously estimated that of around 12,000 Afghans imprisoned in neighboring countries, about 8,000 are held in Iranian prisons.
Meanwhile, executions of Afghan prisoners in Iran have risen sharply in recent years. According to Iranian rights groups, at least 85 Afghan nationals, including women, were executed in various prisons across the country last year. In 2024, at least 80 Afghans were executed in Iran.
