Posted on: Sunday, September 16, 2001

The September 11th attack
Iran seals its border against Afghan exodus

Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has ordered its security forces to seal the border with Afghanistan to prevent Afghan refugees from entering the country in case of a U.S. retaliation for the terror attacks, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

In an official statement carried by the Islamic Republic News Agency, the ministry said its military and police forces have been deployed along the 560-mile border to prevent Afghans from crossing over "in the aftermath of the probable U.S. attacks."

Iran has condemned Tuesday's attacks in Washington and New York, but did not say if it plans to join an international coalition being assembled by the United States to go after terrorists.

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia is under fire for harboring accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, who is a prime suspect in the airborne strikes on New York and Washington.

Iran has said it cannot accommodate a mass exodus from Afghanistan. There are more than 2 million Afghan refugees already in Iran, the government said.

The Interior Ministry called on authorities in Khorassan and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces, which border Afghanistan, to cooperate with relief agencies in providing aid to displaced Afghans close to the Iranian border.

Apart from Iran, Pakistan is home to about 2 million Afghan refugees.