Iranian visas for Afghans are being sold on the black market for up to $2,300

Iranian visas for Afghans are being sold on the black market for up to $2,300. In an interview with Amu TV, three Afghans said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain Iranian visas through official channels. As a result, some citizens looking for work abroad are forced to buy visas on the black market, where visas are being offered for up to 150,000 Afghanis (about $2,300).

They said Iranian visas are being sold through unofficial channels for prices ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 Afghanis. Unemployment and rising economic hardship are pushing them to find work in Iran, but they are unable to pay the high prices being asked for the visas.

Since the start of the war between Iran, the United States and Israel, the process of obtaining Iranian visas has become more complicated for Afghan citizens. Raz Mohammad, who supports a family of eight, said he is deeply in debt. He wants to go to Iran to find work, but he has not been able to get a visa through the usual means.

"The Iranian visa costs 100,000 to 150,000 Afghanis. We cannot afford it. Each of us owes 200,000 ($3,000) to 250,000 Afghanis ($3,850). Everyone is poor. Some people can't even afford dinner," he said.

Akhtar Mohammad, a resident of Badghis province, said he had been deported from Iran twice before. He had sought help from Taliban officials to get a visa, but to no avail.

"I told them that I had been deported twice and that I was responsible for 10 members of my family. I asked them to give me a visa. But they refused. They said, 'We don't have that authority. Whether you die of hunger or thirst, it has nothing to do with us. Go anyway,'" he told Amu TV.

Another resident, Abdul Ghafoor, told Amu TV that Afghans were told to travel to Iran legally with passports. But now he is having trouble getting a visa.

"At first, they told us to go to Iran with passports or Iran will treat us badly. But now Iran is not giving us visas. We don't even have enough food. If we go to Iran, we will be deported anyway," he said.

Ghafoor said he was ready to do any work in Iran to support his family. "I can do anything in Iran, my children are hungry. All our neighbors are in the same situation," he said.

Sources in Herat told Amu TV that some Iranian visas are being obtained and sold through influential figures, religious scholars and local officials. Community activist Naim Mohammadi told Amu TV that some commercial and medical companies are offering Iranian visas to citizens.

"Unfortunately, Iranian visas are obtained from the diplomatic missions of the Islamic Republic through medical and commercial companies. Then they are sold to ordinary people in the city," Mohammadi said.

He said that local authorities in Herat do not monitor how visas are obtained and distributed. He described this as an abuse of the visa system. An official at the Iranian consulate in Herat told Amu TV that he was not authorized to comment on the matter.

According to the investigation, Iran has stopped issuing work visas to Afghan citizens for the past five years. Tourist and medical visas are still being issued, but applicants say the process has become very difficult. For many Afghans seeking work in Iran, these restrictions have left few legal and affordable options.

Earlier, it was reported that the bodies of 14 men who went missing in the Afghan desert were found. They died of severe heat and dehydration while trying to illegally cross into Iran.