UN Hails Iran’s Support for Foreign Refugees

Tehran: UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien hailed Iran for hosting a large population of foreign refugees living in Iran. “Iran is hosting over 3 million refugees which is praiseworthy,” O’Brien made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli in Tehran recently. The Iranian interior minister said that three million Afghan refugees are living in Iran, adding that the assistance provided by the UN refugee agency does not cover even two percent of the costs Iran pays for hosting the foreign refugees. Iran has been a generous host for more than 2 million Afghan refugees for two decades, with little help from the international community.