Tehran, Jun 21 (IANS): Nearly 13,876 Afghan nationals living "illegally" in Iran were repatriated to their home country through Iran's northeastern border crossing over the past nine days, media reported.
The move aimed to counter the illegal presence of foreign nationals in Iran, IRIB news agency report quoted Majid Shoja, the border police commander of the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan Razavi, as saying on Tuesday.
Shoja called on foreign nationals to enter Iran through official and legal gateways lest they should face "serious legal actions," Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees, more than 60,000 Afghan refugees have reportedly returned home from Iran since January, and over 2.5 million registered Afghan refugees reportedly have been living in Iran.