TEHRAN – The Interior Ministry Director for Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Ahmad Mohammadifar says Iran is currently hosting over 30,000 Afghan college students as well as another 360,000 school age students all the way to high school, the Mehr news agency reported.

Mohammadifar, who was making the remarks in a ceremony in Tehran on Saturday to commemorate the martyrs of Iran and Afghanistan, added that efforts have been made in assisting Afghan students to get more familiar with their motherland and their culture.

The martyrs here refer to the Afghans who lost their lives in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and the Iranians who died in the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979 to 1989).