UNHCR Hails Ayatollah Khamenei's Permission for Afghan Children's Education in Iran

"In my view, the order by the Islamic Revolution Leader for the Afghan children to study in Iran is considered as one of the most progressive policies in providing service to the refugees and is an admirable measure," Grandi said, while visiting a refugee center in Tehran on Monday.

He appreciated Iran's special efforts to give service to the refugees, and said, "Iran has special policies to this end and can turn into a role model for other countries."

An Iranian official said in March that over 900,000 legal Afghan refugees are currently living in Iran, adding that the number of Iraqis residing in Iran has declined as security has been restored to that country.

"From the 1.35 million Afghans about 900 thousand are refugees, and 450 thousand are passport holders; there are a number of illegal ones, whose number is not known," Deputy Director of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs, Mohammad Ali Salehi Najafabadi said.

He pointed to Afghanistan as part of the Muslim World and an important neighbor of Iran, , and said, "Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has ordered that all the Afghan children in Iran should be allowed to education like the Iranians."

Salehi Najafabadi also said that the safer Iran's neighbor, the better for Iran, and added Iran is trying to raise a dynamic generation of Afghans to be able to return to their country.

He said once there were about 450 thousand Iraqi refugees in Iran, but after the return of security to Iraq, most of them went back to their country, adding, "There are about 40 thousand Iraqis in Iran now."

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