Since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, many Afghan citizens, including teachers, scholars, and students, have fled to neighboring Iran in search of refuge. Iran had long served as a sanctuary for Afghan scholars, offering a relatively open academic environment. However, as Iran's political landscape shifts, this haven is rapidly disappearing, leaving Afghan academics stranded and facing an uncertain future.
In recent years, escalating conflicts between Iran and Israel, combined with growing pressure from the Iranian government on undocumented migrants, have led to a dramatic surge in Afghan refugees returning to Afghanistan. According to a June 2025 report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 250,000 Afghans crossed back into Afghanistan in just one month, a record-breaking number. This wave of returns was triggered by Iran's March 2025 deadline for the expulsion of all undocumented Afghan nationals. As this policy was enforced, thousands of Afghan students and scholars, who had found refuge in Iran, were forced to abandon their academic pursuits.
Many Afghan scholars, like Professor Ehsan Haidari, had sought refuge in Iran after facing threats from the Taliban due to their anti-Taliban views. Haidari, a former political science professor at a private university in Kabul, recalls his time in Iran. “I fled to Iran to escape the Taliban's persecution, but even there, my hopes for continuing my academic work were dashed as the Iranian authorities cracked down on Afghan nationals,” he explains. In Iran, Haidari had hoped to continue teaching private lessons and eventually secure an international fellowship, but his plans were thwarted as Iran increasingly restricted the activities of undocumented migrants.
Iran had historically been a sanctuary for Afghan refugees, especially since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, when millions fled across the border. For the past two decades, Iran allowed limited access to education for Afghan children and welcomed some Afghan students into its universities, particularly in cities like Mashhad, Qom, and Zahedan. But since 2023, Iran has tightened its policies, suspending university registration for Afghan students without passports or study visas. This policy remains in place, effectively closing the door to higher education for many Afghans.
The situation in Afghanistan has grown increasingly dire for academics since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. Many professors were dismissed for ideological reasons, silenced for promoting critical thinking, or targeted for their previous affiliations with international programs. Female lecturers were immediately barred from teaching, while others reported being interrogated, threatened, or forced to revise curricula to align with the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.
As Haidari recounts, “In Iran, I could still engage in teaching, but now, back in Afghanistan, I can't even step onto my old campus.” This sentiment is shared by many Afghan scholars who, upon returning to Afghanistan, found themselves unemployed and marginalized. In universities like Kabul, more than 160 professors have either resigned or fled since 2021, and Herat University lost 75 faculty members, including senior researchers and department heads. For many Afghan scholars who had studied or taught in Iran, returning home has meant facing a harsh new reality, where academic opportunities have all but vanished.
Iran had been a lifeline for Afghan scholars, allowing them to maintain connections with the global academic community. Haidari reflects, “Iran was the last bridge to the outside world for Afghan scholars, and now that bridge is being closed.” As international scholarships have dwindled and foreign exchange programs ceased, Iranian universities had provided Afghan scholars with a critical link to global academia. Now, with Iran's increasing restrictions, that bridge is gone, leaving Afghan scholars stranded with limited opportunities.
The challenges faced by Afghan scholars are compounded by the political realities in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. While many Afghan educators sought refuge in Iran to escape the repressive environment at home, their return to Afghanistan marks a loss of not just employment, but the opportunity to contribute to the intellectual development of their country. The Taliban's strict policies on education—particularly their ban on women's higher education—have left Afghan academics with few options to continue their work.
For example, female academics like Sumaya Rahimi, a former political science lecturer, had found a way to continue their teaching in Iran, where she was able to hold private classes and engage with diaspora scholars. However, returning to Afghanistan has meant facing even harsher restrictions. “In Iran, I could still attend workshops, engage with fellow academics, and teach quietly. But now, back home, I can't even walk into my old campus,” Rahimi says, highlighting the severe repression that has gripped Afghan education.
The situation faced by Afghan academics reflects a larger crisis in the global academic community. The struggle of these scholars, forced to leave their homes and face an uncertain future, underscores the fragility of academic freedom and intellectual exchange in times of political upheaval. As one Harvard professor put it, “Education should be a universal right, not a privilege reserved for a few.” Yet, for many Afghan scholars, that right is being denied, leaving them without the opportunity to contribute to their country's future.
The return of Afghan scholars from Iran not only marks a personal tragedy for these individuals but also signals a loss for the academic world. Afghanistan is losing not only educators but critical thinkers and mentors who have gained valuable international experience. Mohammad Rezazada, a former director of a private university in Herat, laments, “We used to have professors who studied or taught in Tehran and Mashhad. Now they are back, but jobless and fearful.”
For many of these returning scholars, the road ahead seems bleak. With the Taliban’s regime actively replacing former faculty with ideologically aligned individuals, the prospects for returning academics to regain their positions are slim. “We have positions we can’t fill anymore,” says a senior administrator at Kabul University, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We are told to only recruit ‘ideologically fit’ candidates. But how can we build a university with that filter?”
The plight of Afghan academics and students fleeing Iran is a tragic reminder of the vulnerabilities in global education systems. While it may seem a distant issue for scholars in the West, it is a poignant reflection of how education systems—no matter how advanced—can crumble under political pressures. The story of Afghan scholars is a powerful call to protect the freedom of thought and the right to education, especially for those who have already faced so much hardship.