Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 19
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
More than two million foreigners are currently working in Iran, while a majority of them do not hold a work permit, the Mehr News agency reported on November 19.
Most of the foreign workers in Iran are Afghan nationals and many have not even entered the country officially.
Iranian Labour Minister Ali Rabiei has said that the foreign workers in Iran are just busy with uncomplicated and unprofessional jobs, while the unemployment crisis in Iran is related to university graduates.
The report says the Iranian administration has not paid due attention to the problem in recent years.
The minister added that the foreign workers have even occupied many jobs in villages, as Iranian workers are disinclined to do low-paid work.
On October 25, the head of Statistical Centre of Iran said that Iran's unemployment situation had become a crisis.
"The country's youth unemployment rate is currently around 26 per cent," the Mehr News Agency quoted Adel Azar as saying.
"The country's total unemployment rate is also 12.2 per cent," he added.
"Once a country's youth unemployment doubles the total unemployment rate, the country has entered into an unemployment crisis," Azar explained.
It was announced on October 23 that the administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has cancelled an employment plan enacted by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Mehr News Agency reported.
The plan, dubbed Mehr Afarin, aimed to employ 500,000 in government organisations.
Over 542,000 job opportunities were created in Iran during the past eight years.