Mashhad to become key staging point in Afghan crisis

The northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, home to one of the most famous pilgrimage shrines of the Shi'ite branch of Islam, and 250 km northwest of the border with Afghanistan, is set to play a major role in the UN's regional response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Current mobilisation of UN activities there underscores the importance Iran, like neighbouring Pakistan, will play in the crisis. "Iran is very important, particularly for getting access and food into the northern region [of Afghanistan]," the recently appointed UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator (RHC), Mike Sackett, told IRIN. "Mashhad will be the forward base, a staging point for the Afghan western regional team in exile to work from," he said. Currently the UN and other agencies are bringing in additional staff to beef up their presence in the city, he added. Sackett, who accompanied UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima to the region last week, explained that they were currently relocating their humanitarian team from the western Afghan city of Herat to Mashhad. "We have done the first round of contingency planning and it's now necessary to refine those plans in light of evolving circumstance," Sackett said. "The planning will include not just UN agencies, but the NGO partners whom they have been working with for years," he added. In the wake of the US-led retaliatory strike on Afghanistan on Sunday, the UN expects that up to 1.5 million Afghan refugees may seek refuge in neighbouring countries in coming weeks, including some 400,000 reaching Iran. Iran shares more than 900 km of frontier with Afghanistan, and Tehran claims there are already over two million Afghans living Iran. Government officials insist Iran cannot accommodate any more. Asked to comment on the importance of Mashhad, Mohammad Nouri, the UNHCR spokesman in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Sunday echoed Sackett's views. "In addition to UNHCR's sub-office in Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan, our sub-office in Mashhad will play a pivotal role, given its proximity to the border," he said. "Its international airport and transportation facilities will facilitate the transfer of international humanitarian assistance into Afghanistan, as well as relief items to be stored in Iran along the border area with the country," he added. According to Nouri, there are two main border crossing points, these being Dogharun in the Iranian province of Khorasan and Milak in Sistan-Baluchestan, where UNHCR is present and monitoring the situation. Although the Iranian government has officially sealed the border, the Iranian interior ministry and UNHCR in Khorasan Province have identified five places along the border where relief items are now being stored. Those sites, all inside Iran, are Saleh Abad, Khaf, Yazdan, Mil-e 75, and Nehbandan. Five other places within Afghanistan, each of them opposite to one of the five places in Iran, have been identified by the interior ministry as gathering places for a possible refugee influx. Should such an influx begin into the border areas, then the relief materials stored on the Iranian side could be transferred to those gathering places, Nouri said. Meanwhile, in Sistan-Baluchestan, the Iranian authorities have identified two other potential sites, both the southeastern city of Zabol - Mil-e 46 and Pashmekeh. "In case of a possible influx, the emergency relief items stored in Zabol will be transferred to these two sites," Nouri said. Asked about UNHCR's preparedness in Iran, Nouri said, "We are preparing ourselves for a wide range of scenarios, including a possible influx into the area." Commenting on the status of UN's activities in Iran, Sackett said, "For me, the main priority continues to be to assist vulnerable Afghans, the bulk of whom are in Afghanistan." On the UN's preparedness, he added, "There needs to be a sufficient increase in capacity, and all agencies are gearing up for just that." As of Sunday, since 11 September, there has been no major influx of Afghans across the border registered by UNHCR's two sub-offices in Mashhad and Zahedan. Nouri said, however, that this did not mean there had been no Afghans coming in, but rather that there had been no sizable influx.