Over 8,000 Foreign Nationals Imprisoned in Iran

Iran's prisons are housing more than 8,000 foreign nationals, with Afghans making up the vast majority, according to Iranian officials.

The Islamic Republic is looking to negotiate to transfer many of these inmates back to serve their sentences in their home countries.

Askar Jalalian, deputy for human rights and international affairs at Iran's Justice Ministry, told the official IRNA news agency that around 6,620 of the foreign prisoners are Afghan citizens.

He said Iran is actively working to repatriate all of the Afghan inmates but has faced "infrastructural weaknesses" in Afghanistan that have impeded transfers so far.

"The domestic legal system in Afghanistan is not in a good state and we are in the process of consulting to have a joint meeting with the [prisoner transfer] committee in Afghanistan and to identify solutions for the transfer of prisoners," Jalalian said.

After Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and India account for the highest number of foreigners imprisoned in Iran.

Under agreements allowing inmate transfers between countries, Jalalian said Iran aims to return all foreign prisoners to their home nations to complete their sentences there.

Human rights groups have long criticized Iran for its criminal justice system's lack of due process, with foreigners and minorities often caught up in vague charges.