TEHRAN -- Afghanistan's Minister for Refugee Affairs Enayatullah Nazari here expressed appreciation for Iran's efforts and measures taken to repatriate Afghan refugees to their homeland.

As he toured Mashhad's Repatriation Center, Nazari praised Iran's "positive" efforts toward implementing the province's repatriation plan, and called for more cooperation and assistance from the Islamic Republic to return Afghan refugees to their homeland, said IRNA.

The minister is also expected to visit refugee camps in the border cities of Torbat-e Jaam and Dogharoun in Iran's northeastern Khorasan Province.

Meanwhile, Isfahan's Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) reported on Tuesday that over a thousand Afghan refugees have voluntarily returned to their country from the province since the start of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2003).

Isfahan is one of the country's most active repatriation sites for Afghan refugees.

The ongoing repatriation of Afghans is governed by a tripartite accord signed in Geneva on April 3, 2002 by Iran, Afghanistan, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

At the time of the signing of the agreement, the number of Afghan refugees in the Islamic Republic was placed at two million. Under the accord, all will hopefully be repatriated in the next three years.

Since the implementation of the accord, Afghan refugees have been required to present passports and valid visas to enter Iran and those found to have illegally entered are to be arrested in accordance with the country's immigration laws.

The accord further requires returning Afghans to pass through either the Dogharoun or Milak border checkpoints in Iran's northeastern Province of Khorasan and southeastern Province of Sistan-Baluchestan, respectively.

The returnees are given a cash grant to cover transportation cost that is calculated according to the distance traveled. They are also given food assistance and some household items to help them restart their lives back in their homeland.

Meanwhile, Enayatullah Nazari added that about two million Afghan refugees have voluntarily returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran since transitional government took office in the country.

Nazari said on Tuesday that moreover, about 100,000 Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Britain, France, Australia, Thailand and some European states.

He said more than six million Afghans had left Afghanistan during 23 years of civil wars.

He added that international organizations and governments had spent 1.8 million dollars on Afghanistan reconstruction in 2002.

The minister said 500,000 Afghan refugees should repatriate from Iran annually and grounds have been prepared for the purpose.

He said more than 1.3 million Afghan refugees, residing in Pakistan, returned home under a trilateral agreement among Pakistan, Afghan transitional government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).