MASHHAD -- Since the implementation of a UN-sponsored plan for repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran, 364,496 nationals of that country have returned home, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s spokesman in the Islamic Republic, Mohammad Nouri, told IRNA here Thursday.

Of those, 108,323 people returned voluntarily and the rest under the accord which Iran, Afghanistan and the UN singed in Geneva in April to repatriate 400,000 Afghan refugees each year.

Iranian officials have put the number of Afghan refugees in the Islamic Republic at two million, saying all will be repatriated in the next three years.

The repatriation is carried out through two main border checkpoints of Dougharoun -- situated between Iranian Province of Khorasan in the northeast and Afghan city of Herat -- and Milak which links Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan and Neemroze province in Afghanistan.

Iran reopened Milak border crossing in November after a five-month closure because of regional instability on the Afghan side. It was closed in June after 16 people were killed and many others wounded during factional fighting across the border.

Dougharoun is the main route for the repatriation of Afghans, which has seen more than 352,000 refugees return home so far, Nouri said. The crossing has remained open since the fall of the hardline Taleban militia in November this year.

Since August 28, Iranian police have been dealing with those Afghans who lack proper papers for residence.

According to a World Food Program report this year, Iran is hosting about 2.65 million refugees, of whom 2.35 million are Afghans, 203,000 Iraqis and 5,000 nationals of other countries.