As the process of deporting Afghan migrants from Iran intensifies, Iranian officials say that in the past week, more than 120,000 people have entered Afghanistan from Iran, both forcibly and voluntarily.

The district governor of Taybad in Iran says that nearly 8,000 undocumented Afghan citizens enter Afghanistan daily through the Dogharun border alone.

Meanwhile, some deported immigrants say they left all their assets in Iran and were forced to return home empty-handed.

Hossein Jamshidi, the district governor of Taybad, told Iranian media that in the past week alone, more than 95,000 undocumented citizens and about 25,000 documented migrants from all over Iran have been identified and returned to Afghanistan from this border.

Dogharoon border is the largest crossing point for the deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran. Every day, thousands of migrants, most of whom were living in Iran without documents, are now transported in large convoys, in dozens of passenger buses from all over Iran, to this border point zero.

But in this side of the border!

But on this side of the border, at the Islam Qala crossing, thousands of people, including women and children, are standing in long lines in the scorching sun, wearing only a few layers of clothing, waiting to cross the border and enter Afghan territory.

Many of these migrants say they have nowhere to go and have been forced to leave all their belongings on the other side of the border, on Iranian soil, and return empty-handed.

The Taliban have called for the establishment of a “coordinated mechanism” with the Iranian government for the return of refugees.

UN agencies have called for increased financial assistance following the significant expulsion of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries.

The Norwegian government has expressed concern about the deportation of migrants in recent days and has allocated nearly $1 million to support them.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly discussing the possibility of providing Iran with up to $30 billion in financial access to develop its peaceful nuclear program as part of efforts to return to negotiations with Tehran.

According to a CNN report citing sources familiar with the matter, this offer requires Tehran to completely halt uranium enrichment, a condition emphasized as “non-negotiable.”

Under the proposed plan, the funds would not be provided by the US but by Arab nations. An administration official stated, “The US is ready to lead these negotiations. Someone will have to pay for the implementation of the nuclear program, but we will not make such a commitment.”

Other proposals on the table

American officials have indicated that other offers are also being considered. These include the potential lifting of some sanctions against Iran and granting Tehran access to $6 billion of its frozen assets in foreign banks.

Another idea involves US allies in the Persian Gulf covering the cost of building new infrastructure to replace the Fordow nuclear facility, which was damaged in US attacks. This new facility would also lack uranium enrichment capabilities.

Washington’s “comprehensive peace” initiative

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Special Representative for the Middle East, told CNBC that the US aims to achieve a “comprehensive peace agreement.”

A White House statement emphasized that all proposals are designed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Following the events of the past two weeks, which include mutual attacks with Israel and a US strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, the White House hopes Tehran will accept Washington’s terms.

Experts are skeptical, fearing the offer could backfire

Conversely, Iran experts cited by CNN believe these events will further convince the country’s leadership of the necessity of possessing nuclear weapons.

Earlier this week, the Iranian parliament approved the suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Even before the US attack on the night of June 22, the Iranian government had already significantly restricted agency officials’ access to its facilities.

According to IAEA data from mid-May, Iran possessed approximately 409 kilograms of highly enriched uranium.

Bloomberg reported that this amount is theoretically sufficient to produce ten nuclear warheads. The agency’s Director General, Rafael Grossi, stated that the location of this material is unknown.

While Tehran claims it moved its uranium stockpiles from the attacked facilities beforehand, the IAEA assesses that a significant portion of the stocks may have survived the strike.

According to a classified military intelligence report obtained by CNN and the New York Times (NYT), US attacks on Iran’s three major uranium enrichment facilities did not eliminate the main components of Tehran’s nuclear program but only set it back by several months.

American officials who reviewed the report stated that the document, which includes a preliminary assessment of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran and the subsequent American attack, contradicts President Donald Trump’s declaration that the program was “completely destroyed.”

The report, prepared by the Pentagon, emphasized that the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities was largely limited to the destruction of above-ground structures. It was determined that while the entrances to two underground facilities were filled with debris, the bunkers themselves remained intact.

Furthermore, it was reported that enriched uranium stockpiles might have been moved from the facilities before the attacks and that the centrifuges were “largely undamaged.” The report also noted that the US managed to damage the power grid of the nuclear facility built into a mountain at Fordo, but the facility itself did not sustain serious damage.

Timeline for a nuclear bomb extended

Before the military operation, US intelligence agencies estimated it would take Tehran at least three months to hastily produce a low-yield, primitive nuclear weapon. According to the NYT, military intelligence now predicts this timeline will extend to about six months.

The Times of Israel reported that Israeli intelligence also believes the US and Israeli attacks did not completely destroy Iran’s nuclear program, only setting it back “several years.”

Professor Jeffrey Lewis, an arms expert from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, concurred with the US military intelligence assessment. According to Lewis, Iran could quickly rebuild its nuclear program using uranium stockpiles in the intact underground bunkers. The expert suggested that, in this scenario, it could take Iran five months to produce a nuclear bomb.

White House reacts strongly to leak

President Donald Trump had previously announced that the American attacks had resulted in the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, however, described the intelligence assessment cited by CNN and the NYT as “false.” Leavitt stated the document was classified and had been leaked to the press by a “low-ranking, unidentified loser.”

In a statement on the social media platform X, Leavitt remarked, “The leak of this so-called assessment is a blatant attempt to humiliate President Trump and discredit the brave fighter pilots who carried out a flawless mission to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when fourteen 30,000-pound bombs are precisely dropped on their targets: Total destruction.”

Trump also accused CNN and the NYT of collaborating to downplay one of the most successful military attacks in history. On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The nuclear facilities in Iran have been completely destroyed!”

According to the NYT, the publication of the intelligence findings overshadowed President Trump’s victory at the NATO summit. The fact that the report was prepared by the Pentagon, which personally carried out the attacks, further underscored the situation’s significance.