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Slideshow Best photos of the year 2012 Download our Wider Image iPad app Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Suicide bombers attack U.S. base in Afghanistan | 9:43am EST Kim Kardashian brings out fans, Islamists and police in Bahrain 01 Dec 2012 Islamist protest shuts down Egypt's top court | 8:33am EST Kansas City Chiefs' Belcher in fatal double shooting | 7:42am EST At least three dead after Japan tunnel collapse: TV | 7:43am EST Discussed 270 Obama promotes tax agenda, U.S. Congress in stand-off 204 Warren Buffett calls for a minimum tax on the wealthy 102 Obama’s opening ”fiscal cliff” bid seeks debt limit hike, stimulus Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Surrealism of Sandy The altered landscape in the aftermath of Sandy. Slideshow Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. Slideshow Sponsored Links Iran pushes out Afghans as regional power-play heats up Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Israel's Barak, architect of Iran policy, leaving politics Mon, Nov 26 2012 Two killed in suicide bomb attack near Kabul NATO base Wed, Nov 21 2012 Iran ready to double nuclear work in bunker: IAEA Fri, Nov 16 2012 Pakistan starts Afghan Taliban prisoner release: official Wed, Nov 14 2012 Threat-focused Iran launches "biggest ever" air drills Mon, Nov 12 2012 Analysis & Opinion Golden days of the Turkey-Iran trade may be gone From Bhagalpur to Boisar Related Topics World » Afghanistan » United Nations » Middle East Turmoil » 1 of 4. A group of Afghan migrant workers enter Afghan territory after leaving Iran at the Islam Qala border in Herat province November 5, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Mohammad Shoib By Amie Ferris-Rotman HERAT, Afghanistan | Sun Dec 2, 2012 5:54am EST HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Ghaus worked in Iran for five years but has nothing to show for it. All he has are memories of being jailed, beaten and sent home to Afghanistan. Afghanistan's oil-rich western neighbor has for years been a destination for Afghans seeking work or fleeing war. Afghanistan and Iran share a language, and cultural and historical links. But hostility to the U.S. role in Afghanistan, regional ambitions and an economy choked by Western sanctions have persuaded Iran to cast out Afghan migrants, to the dismay of those forced home and their government. In May, Iran threatened to expel Afghan refugees and migrant workers, in all about 2.4 million people, if Afghanistan signed a strategic security pact with the United States. The deal was struck. "Afghan refugees and migrants are becoming the victims of big political games played between the Iranian and U.S. powers," said Abdul Samad Hami, Afghanistan's deputy minister for refugees. Few of the migrants, who pay smugglers about $700 to get across the 1,000 km (620 miles) border into Iran, know they have been caught up in a geopolitical power play. Barefoot and wearing a sun-bleached silver turban, Ghaus was huddled with about 20 other expelled migrants at a U.N. center in the western Afghan city of Herat after being dumped out of a bus on the border. "Suddenly, my life came to an end," the soft-spoken bricklayer told Reuters. Ghaus is one of 191,121 unregistered Afghan migrants forced out of Iran from January to September 30 this year, according to the U.N. refugee agency, up 29 percent from last year. About 1.4 million migrant workers remain in Iran but hundreds of them are being expelled every day. There are also nearly a million Afghan refugees who are allowed to live there. Shuffling home through Herat's Islam Qala border checkpoint, most of the returning migrants are young men dressed like Iranians in jeans and brightly colored bomber jackets, but with bulging suitcases and bed-rolls on their heads. Many migrants have called Iran home for decades, part of an exodus of nine million Afghans - a third of the population - who fled to neighbors Iran and Pakistan, beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979, through to the austere Taliban rule of the 1990s. The expulsions represent not just a burden for Afghanistan but also a loss of income, and could even spell more instability ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of 2014. Afghan migrants in Iran send home about $500 million a year, a considerable sum for one of the world's poorest countries. The funds will become more important as foreign aid shrinks with the departure of Western forces. INFLUENCE, OPIUM Iran says migrant workers pose a security threat. But Afghan politicians and analysts say Iran is pushing them out to show it can ratchet up the pressure when it doesn't get its way. As the United States reduces its role in Afghanistan, neighbors are competing for influence. Iran already backs a third of Afghan media and builds schools and clinics to boost its sway, according to Afghan officials. Iran's economic influence in Afghanistan is palpable in Herat, which enjoys robust trade over the nearby border and boasts smoothly paved roads and bustling markets. Iran offers Afghan migrants menial work, often on construction sites. Many of the men return home addicted to opium after being paid in the drug instead of cash. This is not only because it is cheaper for employers to pay in opium, but also because the depreciation of Iran's rial, in the face of international sanctions over its nuclear program, has made opium more attractive than cash for the workers. "We were allowed to choose - money or drugs. Over time, drugs seemed the better option," said Rasool, a grey-bearded man who guarded a construction site in Iran's second-largest city of Mashhad for 15 years. Like Ghaus, Rasool was briefly imprisoned in Iran before being expelled. Some migrants end up in prison after getting home. "We've noticed an increase in the number of migrants coming back here with drug addictions," said General Shah Mir, who oversees Herat's provincial prison, where almost 300 former migrant workers are doing time for opium trafficking. Health officials estimate there are 1 million Afghans addicted to opium or heroin, or about 8 percent of the adult population, making it the world's top user per capita. It is also the top producer of opium and its refined form, heroin. "TOUGH TALK" But it is not just the migrant workers that Iran wants out. It is also making moves to force out the majority of the 930,000 legal Afghan refugees and is stepping up a campaign to make them feel unwelcome, Afghan officials and rights group say. Last month, Iran's Interior Ministry said a decision had been made to "end the status of asylum for 700,000 Afghans" by March 21, 2015. An Interior Ministry spokesman declined to comment on the reason for the decision. Faraz Sanei, Iran researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Iran gets tough on repatriating Afghans when it feels pressured in the regional maneuvering for influence. "When political tension between Tehran and Kabul is high, for example, with regard to the U.S. role in Afghanistan, Tehran has stepped up its tough talk," Sanei said. Iran and Afghanistan, along with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, agreed on a voluntary repatriation program in 2002 in the belief that with better security at home, the refugees should choose to go back. "Though this has been the official government line, we have seen an increase in the restrictive measures against Afghan refugees in recent years that has made life in Iran increasingly difficult," said Sanei. Iran has been increasing the number of "no-go areas" for Afghans, which authorities say is part of a strategy to secure its borders. Afghans are now allowed in 12 of Iran's 31 provinces, down from 14 last year. "Even within the allowed areas, movement of Afghans is restricted and there are only certain jobs they can do," said Hami, the deputy minister for refugees. Afghans have even been banned from certain public parks, Iranian media has reported. Hami said Afghanistan had been preparing for the expulsion of refugees for some time and was mapping out a "contingency plan" with the U.N. refugee agency that should be ready by January. For Herat member of parliament Qazi Nazir Ahmad Hanfai, the reason Iran is putting pressure on Afghans living there is clear: Iran is punishing Afghanistan for defying its call to reject the U.S. security pact. "The Iranians warned the Afghans ... and now we're seeing the result of that threat," Hanfai said. (Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni in KABUL and Yeganeh Torbati in DUBAI; Editing by Michael Georgy and Robert Birsel) World Afghanistan United Nations Middle East Turmoil Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (3) Khannan wrote: Edition: U.S. Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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