Currently, some 2,200 Iraqi nationals are under coverage of social insurance in Iran, head of Social Security Organization’s department for foreign nationals has said.
Some 1,530 of the retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization are also Iraqi citizens, IRNA quoted Ahmad Reza Khazaei as saying on Tuesday.
Out of 1.1 million registered foreigners (men and women) living in Iran, some 35,000 are Iraqi nationals, he highlighted.
He went on to say that about a thousand retirees and pensioners live in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Pointing to the foreign students residing in Iran entitled to social insurance benefits, he noted that “About 7,000 Iraqi students are studying in Iran who can use social security services.”
As per the article 5 of Iran’s social security law, foreign nationals who are employed in Iran in accordance with the pertinent labor laws and regulations, except in cases where according to protocols and bilateral and multi-lateral treaties between Iran and other countries special arrangement have been provided for, shall be covered by social insurance law provided that they are not subject to the law for the protection of staff employees against the effects of old age, disability and death.
Iran is host to one of the largest and most protracted refugee populations worldwide.
According to UNHCR, more than 3 million Afghans, including registered refugees, passport holders and undocumented, reside in Iran.
Tehran times