Iran International
Iran’s economy is reeling from an acute labor shortage following the mass deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants, with key industries such as construction and agriculture struggling to function.
For decades, Afghans have formed the backbone of Iran’s low-wage workforce, filling jobs few Iranians were willing to take.
Their sudden absence now threatens both growth and jobs.
Conservative economist Mohammad-Hossein Mesbah called the push to send Afghans home “economic suicide.”
“Abbasabad industrial town [south of Tehran] was almost entirely closed today,” he posted on X. “Why? Shortage of labor. Job ads everywhere … Not a single worker to be found.”
From open borders to expulsions
Before the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the Afghan population in Iran rarely exceeded two million, including about 780,000 with official refugee status. Under former President Ebrahim Raisi’s “open borders” policy, that number surged to more than seven million.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has since reversed course under public pressure.
Following Iran’s recent 12-day conflict with Israel, the government accelerated the deportation of undocumented Afghans, linking some expulsions to national security.
Officials say more than one million migrants have left in the past 100 days, though an estimated six million remain—four million without legal status.
The government has vowed to enforce labor laws, including fines of around $20 per day for undocumented workers, doubling for repeat offenses. Yet enforcement remains patchy in sectors long dependent on informal labor.
Afghans’ role in the Iranian workforce
According to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, 433,000 registered Afghan workers were active as of June 2025—roughly 2 percent of the total labor force.
More than half worked in construction, while others were employed in industry (19 percent), agriculture (11 percent), and mining (less than 1 percent).
A Chamber of Commerce study noted that Afghans, once concentrated in unskilled jobs, had increasingly moved into skilled and technical roles.
Their disappearance is now raising alarms about productivity and output across the economy.
Industry and construction hit hardest
The owner of an industrial workshop in Boumehen, near Tehran, told Shargh newspaper that even legally employed Afghans have left in fear. “We still haven’t found replacements, and nobody responds to our job ads,” he said.
Construction has been hit hardest.
In 2024, estimates suggested that Afghans made up three-quarters of Iran’s 1.5 million construction workers, and nearly half of those in Tehran.
With deportations underway, projects have stalled, and labor costs have jumped by 30–50 percent. The spike is expected to push housing costs even further out of reach.
Rising costs for food and services
Agriculture has also been disrupted. Farmers report delays in harvesting summer fruits and other perishable produce, including pistachios and saffron—two of Iran’s top non-oil exports.
Higher labor costs threaten to drive up food prices at a time when inflation is already high.
Urban services are showing strain as well.
In Tehran, the deportation of hundreds of Afghan street cleaners employed by municipal contractors has left piles of garbage and recyclables in some neighborhoods. Overflowing trash has become a visible sign of how deeply the deportations are reshaping daily life.
Some contractors have lost up to 80 percent of their workforce, according to city official Naser Amani.
Farshchian, 95, passed away on August 9 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where he had lived since 1983. His body was returned to his hometown for burial beside the poet Saeb Tabrizi, in accordance with his wishes.
At the funeral, mourners filled the streets as Farshchian’s coffin was carried from the Conservatory of Fine Arts. Culture Minister Seyyed Abbas Salehi praised him as both a “sage of artists” and a creative genius who gave “a special color and flavor to Iranian art.” President Masoud Pezeshkian also issued condolences, underscoring his stature as a national figure.
The tributes highlighted Farshchian’s towering legacy, even as questions over his relationship with the Islamic Republic continue to spark controversy online.
Public reactions
On social media, responses ranged from praise to condemnation.
“He held the hands of those from whose hand the blood of the country’s youth flowed,” one post on X read. “The people’s historical memory never fades. We will neither forgive nor forget.”
“Without a doubt, the Islamic Republic used him for its propaganda, and sadly, he complied and showed no resistance,” another user wrote.
Others defended him: “Farshchian has painted several panels from the Shahnameh, each more beautiful than the other. His beliefs are his own. We don’t have the right to question his art even if we assume he was a government-affiliated artist. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were also court artists, serving the monarchy and the Christian Church.”
Themes in Farshchian’s work
His miniatures often explore Shiite traditions, while others interpret Persian literature, including the national epic Shahnameh. He also designed new metal lattice enclosures for Shiite shrines in Mashhad and Karbala.
Farshchian’s works are on permanent display at a museum named after him in Tehran’s Saadabad Palace.
Iran's polarized cultural landscape
Collaboration or opposition to the state carries heavy personal and professional consequences in Iran.
Artists who work with state entities, like television, are often labeled “state-affiliated” by dissidents and exiled communities, while appearing with political leaders can spark backlash.
A notable case is singer Alireza Eftekhari, whose embrace of the populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a concert went viral and provoked outrage among critics, resulting in his isolation in the artistic community and loss of his fans.
Conversely, artists challenging the official narrative risk being blacklisted, banned from work, or imprisoned.
One prominent example was the legendary traditional vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian.
He performed a song urging security forces to lay down their weapons during the widespread anti-government protests of 2009. This act of defiance drew the ire of authorities.
The state media banned the broadcast of Shajarian’s songs, image, and his name. Even his iconic Ramadan prayer performance—beloved among religious audiences—was permanently removed from radio and television broadcasts, and he was barred from concerts or album releases.
"Curse the Islamic Republic, which always pits the people against each other … Artists like Farshchian or Shajarian—whatever they may have been—were ultimately artists. The Islamic Republic has even violated the very concept of art and the artist," a post on X stated.
