Ambassador Haidari Discusses Iran’s Anti-Refugee Disinformation and Mass Deportations on Qalamaw
By Staff Writer
Washington-DC – July 13, 2025 — In a wide-ranging interview with Dr. Mohammad Afzali on Qalamaw, a leading channel spotlighting politics and culture across the Afghan diaspora, Ambassador M. Ashraf Haidari, Founder and President of Displaced International (DI), forcefully condemned Iran’s disinformation campaign targeting Afghan refugees as scapegoats for its own mounting security failures.
Speaking with urgency and moral clarity, Ambassador Haidari decried Iran’s ongoing mass deportation of Afghan refugees—over 40,000 people per day, many of them legally documented. He traced this draconian crackdown to a state-orchestrated attempt to deflect public outrage following Iran’s 12-day war with Israel, which exposed deep vulnerabilities in the regime’s security apparatus.
“Iran is trying to shift the blame for its internal failures onto the most vulnerable: Afghan refugees,” said Haidari. “Even if a few individuals may have committed minor offenses—as happens in every society—they must be held accountable individually, not through the collective punishment of an entire community of innocent, hard-working people. This violates every principle of justice and human dignity.”
Ambassador Haidari underscored that Iran’s actions flagrantly breach international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the binding principle of non-refoulement. He noted that Iran’s behavior also runs counter to core Islamic values that emphasize the protection of the persecuted and the displaced.
Referencing his recent article, “Herat Rises in Solidarity: Afghan Citizens Respond to Iran’s Mass Deportation of Refugees”, Haidari praised the people of Herat for showing exceptional civic compassion where the Taliban regime has been absent. Local citizens, acting out of shared humanity, have rushed to provide food, water, shelter, and medical support to returnees, many of them destitute families with nowhere to go.
He also pointed out that major international humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR and IOM, for falling short in this crisis due to chronic underfunding and bureaucratic overhead. Haidari called for urgent, direct, and transparent aid mechanisms—especially to support widow- and orphan-headed households who are most at risk.
Looking ahead, Ambassador Haidari urged the international community—particularly the United States—to take decisive leadership in restarting a UN-led peace process aimed at forming a legitimate, inclusive government in Afghanistan. Without such a solution, he warned, the cycle of displacement and suffering will only intensify.
- Watch the full interview HERE
- To support Afghan returnees in urgent need, especially widow- and orphan-headed families, donate HERE
