“I’m afraid they’ll arrest me as a spy. I can’t leave the house,” he told Foreign Policy at the time. Abdullatif was referring to the common claim that Afghans collaborate with the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. In the 12 days following Israel’s large-scale attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities on June 13, more than 700 people were arrested for espionage and sabotage. State media aired confessions extracted from Afghans among them, creating fertile ground to accelerate what has become one of the biggest mass deportation campaigns in modern history.

While many Iranians took to the streets to celebrate the end of the short but dramatic 12-day war with Israel in June, Abdullatif, 23, couldn’t join the joyful crowds. As an undocumented Afghan in Iran, he couldn’t risk running into the Iranian security forces, whose presence was heavier than usual.

While many Iranians took to the streets to celebrate the end of the short but dramatic 12-day war with Israel in June, Abdullatif, 23, couldn’t join the joyful crowds. As an undocumented Afghan in Iran, he couldn’t risk running into the Iranian security forces, whose presence was heavier than usual.

“I’m afraid they’ll arrest me as a spy. I can’t leave the house,” he told Foreign Policy at the time. Abdullatif was referring to the common claim that Afghans collaborate with the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. In the 12 days following Israel’s large-scale attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities on June 13, more than 700 people were arrested for espionage and sabotage. State media aired confessions extracted from Afghans among them, creating fertile ground to accelerate what has become one of the biggest mass deportation campaigns in modern history.

For more than four decades, Iran pro