Iran Expels 1.5M Afghans: Accused as Israel Spies

Branded a Spy: The Chilling Accusations Against Afghan Refugees in Iran Imagine enduring war, fleeing your homeland for safety, only to be accused of espionage, brutally beaten, and then deported. This isn't a dystopian novel; it's the harrowing reality for hundreds of thousands of **Afghan refugees** caught in a devastating crackdown by **Iran**. Since a brief but intense conflict with Israel, Iran has intensified its **deportation** efforts, alleging "national security concerns." But beneath this official narrative lies a darker story: one of fear, false accusations, and a desperate search for scapegoats. **A Refugee's Nightmare: "They Treated Us Like Animals"**

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Ali Ahmad's eyes still well with tears, his voice trembling as he recounts the ordeal. Lifting his shirt, deep, purpling bruises spiderweb across his back. "They used hoses, water pipes, and wooden boards to beat me," he tells BBC News Afghan. "They treated us like animals." His crime? Accused of spying for Israel. Ali had lived in Iran for two and a half years, seeking refuge from the turmoil in his own country. But during his detention, Iranian officers unleashed a torrent of abuse, seizing his phone and money, leaving him with "not a single penny to travel back" to Afghanistan. He's just one of countless **undocumented migrants** facing this terrifying reality. **Why Now? Iran's Scapegoat Strategy** For months, Iran, which hosts over four million Afghans, had been steadily increasing deportations. But since June's conflict with Israel, the floodgates have opened, with daily returns peaking at 50,000 people in early July. The journey back is often arduous, the experience preceding it, brutal.

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Experts like Barnett Rubin, a former US Department of State adviser, point to a stark political motive. Tehran, he suggests, is "looking for scapegoats" for its own security failures against Israel. "The Iranian government is very embarrassed by their security failures," Rubin explains, hinting at deep penetration by **Israeli intelligence**. "So they had to find someone to blame." This theory gains traction as Iranian media, citing police sources, began reporting arrests of individuals for **espionage**, explicitly linking **Afghan nationals** to Israel's intelligence agency, **Mossad**. **"You Afghans Are Spies": The Spreading Fear** "We're afraid to go anywhere, constantly worried that we might be labeled as spies," shared an anonymous Afghan, reflecting widespread panic. Accusations like "You work for Israel" or "You build drones in your homes" became disturbingly common.

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Abdullah Rezaee’s experience echoes Ali’s terror. Despite holding a valid visa, he was held for four days, which "felt like four years." Beaten with plastic batons, he recalled officers tearing up his visa and passport, shouting, "You're a spy, you're ruining our country!" **The Anatomy of a Smear Campaign: From Whispers to Viral Hate** How did this narrative take hold so powerfully? It began subtly. On June 13th, the day Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military facilities, the government urged citizens to report "suspicious activities." Shortly after, popular Telegram channels amplified these warnings, but added a chilling twist: be vigilant of "alien citizens" – a term often used for Afghans – driving vans in big cities. The next day, arrests linked to the Israeli attacks, including some Afghans, were reported. Then, on June 16th, a video went viral, purporting to show Afghans detained with drones. The truth? The video was old, depicting migrants arrested for being undocumented, not for espionage.

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Yet, the damage was done. On June 18th, a Telegram group linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed 18 Afghans were arrested in Mashhad for building drones for Israel. Though a provincial security chief later denied any connection to drone-making or Israel, stating arrests were "solely for being in Iran illegally," the espionage narrative had already spread like wildfire across social media. A hashtag calling for the "expulsion of Afghans is a national demand" was shared over 200,000 times on X (formerly Twitter) in a single month, peaking at 20,000 mentions on July 2nd. What makes this different, according to Afghan Witness, is that this time, "the misinformation is not just coming from social media users but from Iranian-affiliated media." **A Nation Overwhelmed: Afghanistan's Looming Humanitarian Crisis** The scale of the exodus is staggering. Over 1.5 million Afghans have left Iran since January, with more than 918,000 entering Afghanistan between June 22nd and July 22nd alone. Many had called Iran home for generations, their families having fled Soviet invasion in 1979 or the Taliban's return in 2021.

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But Afghanistan, already struggling under Taliban rule and grappling with a massive influx of returnees from Pakistan, is ill-equipped to absorb these numbers. Experts warn of a looming **humanitarian crisis**. Dr. Khadija Abbasi, a specialist in forced displacement, notes a grim shift. Afghans were once welcomed, but anti-Afghan sentiment steadily grew, fueled by state media portraying them as an "economic burden." False narratives followed, including baseless accusations in the 1990s linking an Afghan to a series of murders (later revealed to be committed by an Iranian). Today, anti-Afghan sentiment is widespread. "It has become very dangerous," Dr. Abbasi says, "so people will just try to stay at home." But for millions, staying home is no longer an option. The borders continue to swell with desperate people. For Abdullah Rezaee, who lost everything in the deportation, the future is uncertain. "I lost everything," he says, his voice a raw testament to the devastating human cost of political scapegoating and unchecked misinformation. As the world grapples with rising tensions, this story serves as a stark reminder of how easily vulnerable communities can become targets in a dangerous game of blame.

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