Afghans living in Iran were accused of everything from transporting and piloting drones to intelligence-gathering and planting bombs, with state-run media and X accounts even running unverified reports of Afghans “confessing” to being Israeli agents. Israel’s aggression, including attacks that struck hospitals and state-run media, led to more than 950 deaths, at least three Afghans among them. Well-known Iranian politicians had already been blaming Afghans for violent attacks and security breaches long before the Israeli bombardment and the spying claims. Amir and several of the other Afghan returnees The New Humanitarian spoke to said the police patdowns and checkpoints were all security theatre. “Families are exhausted & humiliated, returning with nothing… I urge our neighbours to stop the mistreatment of Afghans,” he posted on X.