Azerbaijan, Baku, July 4/Trend M. Moezzi
Iran's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Abdol Reza Sheikholeslami, reminded employers that hiring foreign citizens without official approval is against the law.
After a cabinet meeting today, Mr. Sheikholeslami was asked whether the government has any plans for deporting Afghan workers and replacing them with Iranians, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Foreign citizens who are legally allowed to work in Iran are issued work permits. The Labor Minister said he had no figures for how many jobs have been created in the last three months.
Afghan nationals and the work they do in Iran are sensitive issues. Many Iranians resent the immigrants' presence and officials make various claims that Iran's high unemployment rate, reported at 15.3 percent in 2011 by the government, is caused by foreign workers.
Labor experts, however, point out that 50 percent of unemployed Iranians are young and half of them have university degrees, making it unlikely that they would compete with Afghans for jobs.
Unofficial figures estimate Iran's unemployment rate to be between 20 to 40 percent.
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