Iran has announced that it is prepared to provide fully funded virtual education for Afghan students returning from abroad, including complete support for digital learning tools and equipment.

Nader Yarahmadi, head of the Center for Foreign Nationals and Refugees at Iran’s Ministry of Interior, said Tehran is ready to deliver online education to Afghan students inside Afghanistan, adding that an international partner has expressed interest in helping finance the initiative.

According to Yarahmadi, more than 6.1 million Afghan nationals are legally residing in Iran, with only about 33,000 living in camps and the remainder settled in cities. He noted that until last year, Afghan students made up roughly 12% of Afghanistan’s residents in Iran and accounted for nearly 16% of Iran’s total student population. He said expanding school infrastructure and improving educational quality would help close existing gaps.

Iran’s Education Minister Alireza Kazemi highlighted the country’s experience with remote learning through the “Shad” platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are ready to educate all Afghan students through our national education network under a tripartite cooperation agreement, granting them valid academic certificates within the virtual school framework,” he said.

Earlier meetings in Kabul between Iran’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Alireza Bigdeli, Cultural Attaché Seyed Ruhollah Hosseini, and Islamic Emirate education officials underscored both sides’ interest in continuing cooperation in the education sector.

India has reinforced its support for Afghanistan’s public health sector with the delivery of a new batch of essential vaccines to Kabul.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has supplied 63,734 doses of influenza and meningitis vaccines to Afghan health authorities as part of its ongoing humanitarian assistance program.

Afghan health officials noted that the vaccines will be integrated into national preventive healthcare efforts and will help curb seasonal illnesses while reducing the risk of meningitis outbreaks, especially during periods of heightened vulnerability.

They said the shipment arrives at a time when Afghanistan’s medical resources remain under significant strain.

India has served as a key health partner to Afghanistan in recent years, providing medical supplies, essential medicines, and several rounds of vaccines to help strengthen the country’s healthcare infrastructure.

New Delhi has reiterated that it remains committed to supporting the Afghan people through sustained humanitarian and medical assistance.

Abdul Rahman Munir, the Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics at the Ministry of Interior, traveled to Uzbekistan this afternoon along with his accompanying delegation.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Interior, the purpose of the trip is to participate in a meeting of member countries of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Drugs (CARICC).

The statement added that the meeting will be held on December 5 of this year in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.