Iran’s Interior Minister, Eskandar Momeni, says Tehran has reached its capacity in terms of accepting Afghan nationals and will prioritize the deportation of undocumented migrants.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Momeni stressed that addressing the presence of unauthorized migrants is a national issue and highlighted that Iran’s law enforcement agencies are at the forefront of implementing the policy.

“The issue of undocumented migrants is a national matter, and naturally, the police are on the front line,” Momeni said, adding that this has been made a priority for law enforcement.

Momeni explained that substantial national resources have been allocated to supporting Afghan migrants, and reiterated that Iran no longer can accommodate them.

He also confirmed that the government has developed plans to carry out the deportations.

Iran is host to the largest refugee population in the world, hosting 3.4 million refugees and people in refugee-like situations and has hosted refugees for over 40 years.

According to UNHCR, in March this year, Iran was hosting 773,049 registered Afghan refugees.

In total, UNHCR estimates that some 3.7 million forcibly displaced persons of various documentation status, and from various countries, currently reside in Iran.

Officials from the Chamber of Commerce and Investment met with Robert Dickson, Chargé d'Affaires of the British Embassy in Afghanistan where they asked London to help release the frozen assets of Afghanistan’s central bank.

At a meeting held in Kabul on Monday, Younus Mohmand, the deputy head of the chamber, asked Dickson for London’s support in securing the release of the country’s foreign reserves.

Dickson said the UK supported Afghanistan's private sector so that it could play an important role in the well-being of the people.

“We want a prosperous and secure Afghanistan where our people are able to provide security and prosperity in the future. The private sector clearly plays a key role in any economy, and the private sector plays an important role in creating comfort,” Dickson said.

“We know that the current economic situation is complex and difficult and there are clearly problems such as global connectivity, banking problems and some other issues,” he added.

Islamic Emirate special forces have arrested key members of an insurgent group responsible for a number of attacks including the one on foreign tourists in Bamiyan province in May this year.

IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Monday that the insurgents had also been responsible for the attack on employees of the Directorate of Compliance and Oversight of Orders and Decrees early this month, and several other attacks in Kabul. 

Mujahid said among those arrested was a Tajikistan national, who had been planning to carry out a suicide bombing. 

He said special forces seized an explosive-laden vest, two firearms and ammunition. 

Further investigations revealed that the attacker who targeted the employees of the Directorate of Compliance and Oversight had infiltrated Afghanistan from a Daesh Khorasan training camp located in Mastung, Balochistan.

“Subsequent operations in Kabul and Faryab resulted in the neutralization of two insurgents, while several others were taken into custody,” Mujahid said, adding some of the arrested individuals had recently returned to Afghanistan from the Daesh Khorasan training camp in Mastung, Balochistan.

Mujahid said that following a series of defeats, inflicted by the Islamic Emirate’s special forces, the remaining leaders and operatives of Daesh Khorasan have, “with the assistance of certain intelligence agencies, relocated to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they have established new operational bases and training camps.” 

He said: “From these new bases, they continue to orchestrate attacks, both within Afghanistan and in other countries.