Iran’s Interior Minister Sets Ban On Foreign Nationals’ Residency In Some Areas of Iran

Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, announced that foreign nationals should not live around certain locations in the country.

Vahidi said that the security of these places must be ensured and the evacuation of foreign nationals from around places such as the shrine of Shah Cheragh in Shiraz is being implemented.

Iran's Interior Minister told the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), "According to the plan for the organising of foreigners, the security of some places should be ensured and foreigners should not be residing in those places."

The Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic did not name the foreigners, but it seems that he pointed to the Afghan immigrants in Iran. Recently, the Islamic Republic has planned to deport Afghan and other illegal immigrants from the country.

The decision to evacuate Afghans from around the Shah Cheragh Shrine was made after the second terrorist attack at this place in recent months.

Behrang Ghorbani, the Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs of Fars Governorate, said earlier that following the terrorist attack at the Shah Cheragh shrine, the owners of residential houses and the surrounding areas were told that they are not allowed to rent out their places to foreign nationals.

Earlier, the General Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrant Affairs of Fars Governorate had announced that foreign citizens living in Shiraz Municipality and around the Shah Cheragh shrine have up to 14 days to evacuate their homes.

Following terror attacks on the Shah Cheragh shrine, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence had announced that the perpetrators of the two attacks were foreigners.

According to the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, at least five million Afghan immigrants live in Iran.

The authorities of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly announced that people without valid residency documents should be deported. In the past months, tens of thousands of Afghan immigrants have been deported from Iran and handed over to the Taliban.