ĦĦĦĦTEHRAN, Sept. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday Iran
would not accept future Iraqi refugees if the United States launched an attack
on Iraq, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
ĦĦĦĦAhmad Hosseini, head of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Agency
(BAFIA) of the Interior Ministry, said Iran will settle any asylum seekers near
borders inside the Iraqi soil.
ĦĦĦĦ"Necessary means for the settlement of 50,000 possible refugees have been
provided at Iran's western and southern border regions," he said.
ĦĦĦĦHe predicted that a US attack on Baghdad could trigger the influx of
500,000 Iraqi refugees toward Iranian borders.
ĦĦĦĦIran's central crisis task force office, however, has made projections for
the settlement of between 150,000 and 900,000 refugees, depending on the nature
of the US military attack.
ĦĦĦĦThe United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced
readiness to provide relief and food for 150,000 refugees.
ĦĦĦĦIran has also been hosting over 2.5 million Afghans since over two decades
ago, worsening the unemployment crisis in Iran.
ĦĦĦĦIran's Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussavi Lari said Iran willnot repeat
the same mistake with the Afghan refugees.
ĦĦĦĦThe United States has threatened to unseat Iraq's Saddam Husseinon the
ground that the country was developing weapons of mass destruction and refusing
to allow arms inspectors back into Iraq. Enditem
ĦĦĦĦ
ĦĦ
ĦĦ