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Iran-Afghanistan border wall aimed at beefing up security: Top general
Baqeri, who had traveled to the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan on Wednesday to observe the progress of security programs at the border areas, told reporters that the construction of barriers is moving forward rapidly.
He called the project a top priority for the country’s Armed Forces and is being carried out using scientific principles and successful experiences.
Earlier on Saturday, General Sadegh Nouri, the deputy commander of the Northeast Regional Headquarters of the Army’s Ground Forces, said that construction of 81 kilometers of the wall on the common border with Afghanistan has been completed in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Province.
More than 300 kilometers of a 935 km wall on Iran’s border with Afghanistan is currently under construction in the first phase of the project in the northeastern province. The four-meter wall is topped with fencing for enhanced security.
Nouri said that the illegal entry of Afghan nationals into Iran has significantly decreased during the implementation of the project. Several armed clashes have erupted at the border areas between Iran and Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Iran is also grappling with an influx of Afghan migrants crossing the border.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated the number of Afghan immigrants in Iran at around three million.