MNA – The Director-General of Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs of the Ministry of Interior Mehdi Mahmoudi on Wed. categorically turned down the claim of torturing and detaining illegal nationals at borders of Khorasan Razavi province with Afghanistan, saying such incidents have nothing to do with the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Regarding the rumors and incorrect news published in social media, claiming the torture and drowning of a number of Afghan citizens in Hari [Harirud] River by Iranian border guards, he added, “although there are fundamental doubts about the accuracy of this issue and its connection with the claimed time and place of the incident, this issue has nothing to do with the border guard of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

According to the studies made in this regard, these citizens may have tried to enter the land and territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran by crossing hard-to-pass areas of the river and some of them have drowned due to the water level, he added.

The spread of such news has been leveled by the enemies of the two countries of Iran and Afghanistan with the aim of dividing and creating discord between the two nations.

Yearlong services rendered by the Iranian government to Afghan refugees is solid evidence for the said claim and these rumors will not disrupt friendly ties between the two countries, Mahmoudi emphasized.

On May 1, some claims surfaced in media reports that Iranian border guards had tortured and thrown as many as 57 Afghans into the Hari River (Harirud) in western Herat province to prevent their illegal entry into Iran.

Iran has extensive evidence that the incident has not happened on its borders. According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi, the confirmed reports received from the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran show that such an incident has not occurred on the mentioned date and location. He noted that Iran has not been associated with Afghan migrants and the claims of transferring people to camps or inhumane treatment are completely baseless. He added that due to weather conditions of the region, not a single Afghan citizen entered the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran on that date.