Iran: Winter cold pushing more Afghans towards Iranian borders

“Due to the cold winter, 5,000 Afghan women, children and men enter the borders of Iran every day, so that in the last four months, the number of new Afghan refugees in Iran has reached about 800,000,” Amir Abdollahian said during a phone call with his Norwegian counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt on Thursday.

“We are working to provide assistance to these IDPs within the borders of Afghanistan, and if the Norwegian government has plans to provide humanitarian aid to these IDPs, we are prepared to take the aid to the Afghan people by land and air,” he added.

The top Norwegian diplomat said for her part that the entire international community should be grateful for Iran’s humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan, and that such Iranian efforts have been ongoing on for a very long time.
She said Norway will hold a meeting in Oslo focusing on the crises in Yemen and Afghanistan, and invited Amir Abdollahian to attend the meeting.

Iran has hosted millions of refugees from the neighboring country over the past decades.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have flocked to Iran.

The Islamic republic has repeatedly announced that, despite problems due to U.S. sanctions, it will spare no effort to help the asylum seekers.

It has called on European countries and international organizations to fulfill their commitments regarding Afghan refugees.