News / Politics

Minister urges UN members to share Iran's refugee costs

Wednesday, 28 June 2023 9:48 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 30 June 2023 6:59 AM ]

Afghan refugees at the Iranian border. (File photo by AFP)

Iran's interior minister has called on the United Nations member states to start sharing the refugee costs that the Islamic Republic has been left to handle at the height of the Western sanctions targeting Tehran.

Ahmad Vahidi made the remarks on Wednesday on the occasion of World Refugee Day, saying Iran was hosting around five million refugees amid the coercive economic measures.

"Today, there are displaced people and refugees hailing from tens of countries [who have sought refuge in Iran]. Of course, the prevailing number [among these] belongs to our dear [brothers and sisters] from Afghanistan," he said.

Vahidi noted that Iran has, especially since the 1979 victory of its Islamic Revolution, been accepting the oppressed people from various parts of the world with open arms on "humanitarian" grounds.

However, the country does not receive due credit and support for its hosting these externally displaced people, the minister said, and addressed the representatives of various countries in the UN, asserting, "You should support us concerning the costs that Iran has to shoulder in this regard."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Vahidi reminded that many of those who have been displaced across the world, have been uprooted from their homelands as a result of Western countries' policies, Vahidi said.

He cited the case of Palestinians -- millions of whom have lost their homes as a result of the West's political and military support for Israel.

The minister also mentioned Syria, noting that millions have been similarly uprooted across the Arab country by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which, by the United States' own admission, had been created by Washington itself.

Vahidi went on to fault European governments' irresponsible approach toward many of the refugees, who would try to reach the continent via the Mediterranean. He noted how this attitude recently caused hundreds of refugees to drown in the waters.

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Despite such sheer difference between Iran's attitude towards the refugees and that of the West, the Western states lay claim to upholding the human rights, while the Islamic Republic is accused of violating such rights, the minister concluded.

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