Ghani calls for deep investigation of Afghan refugees’ car burnt in Iran

President Ghani said at a cabinet meeting today that the two countries’ diplomatic authorities should seriously investigate the incident.

The cabinet meeting began with Ghani emphasizing the investigation of the car burning case, noting that the case should be seriously pursued by the diplomatic authorities both, in Kabul and Tehran.

At the same time, the Afghan Foreign Affairs Ministry says the that Acting Foreign Minister has instructed the Afghan ambassador to Tehran and its political departments to follow up on how the Afghan vehicle was set on fire in Iran, and to use every legal paper and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The acting minister of foreign affairs has instructed the Afghan ambassador to Iran and the officials of the ministry’s political branches to seriously pursue the fire incident in Yazd, Iran, which resulted in the deaths of three Afghan citizens and the wounding of five others,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Gran Hewad.

Iranian officials have acknowledged that the Iranian police had fired at a vehicle carrying Afghans, and that the incident was being investigated, but the perpetrators have not yet been identified or prosecuted.

“We urge the Afghan diplomatic structure to take this issue seriously and not to skip it easily,” said Naeem Nazari, a member of the Independent Human Rights Commission.

The burning of a car carrying Afghans and the handcuffing of one of the wounded by the Iranian police, have provoked strong and persistent reactions in Afghanistan.

In the provinces of Helmand and Nangarhar, a crowd of protesters chanted slogans calling for justice, saying the government must take serious actions regarding the oppressions against Afghans.

In May of this year, it was claimed that Iranian border guards had thrown some 50 Afghan laborers on the border with Afghanistan into the Harirud River, killing at least 12 of them.

The Afghan government has said it had handed over a document to Iranian government over the crime of its border guards. Tehran, however, has declared its border guards innocent.