Iranian authorities have agreed to allow the children of illegal Afghan immigrants to attend Iranian schools and universities.

RFE/RL spoke on December 14 with Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq, Afghanistan’s second deputy executive officer who recently returned from talks in Iran.

Mohaqiq said during his talks with Iranian officials, agreements were reached on providing free education for Afghan immigrants who still do not have legal residency in Iran and also on extending the residency permits for some Afghans who are legally registered in Iran.

Mohaqiq said there are more than 1 million Afghans living illegally in Iran.

There are also some 1 million Afghans living legally in Iran.

By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan

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Visas renewed for 450 thousand Afghans in Iran

Iran says it has renewed the visas of 450,000 Afghan nationals for another six months while talks over their residency status continue with the Afghan foreign ministry.

On Friday, the Iranian foreign ministry announced that following a direct request issued by the Afghan president and head of administration to the Iranian president, which invoked “brotherly relations between the two countries”, the Afghan migrants will be given a six-month reprieve while issues around their residency status are sorted out.

Earlier it was announced that 760,000 non-status Afghans whose residency visas had expired would be deported to Afghanistan.

An Afghan delegation travelled to Iran in order to discuss the situation, aiming for a one-year renewal of their residency. It is not clear at this point whether the remaining 310,000 are to be deported or not.

Radio Zamaneh