The United Nations refugee agency says roughly 3.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes inside Iran in just two weeks as the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States rapidly intensifies.
In its latest estimate, UNHCR said large numbers of people are leaving Tehran and other major cities and moving into rural areas to escape air strikes and security operations. The agency’s figure underscores a sudden, large-scale internal displacement that is stretching local capacities outside urban centres where many of the displaced are seeking shelter.
UNHCR and other humanitarian observers report that a significant share of those uprooted are long-term Afghan refugees who have lived in Iran for decades. Those communities were already living under precarious conditions in many cases, and the recent waves of displacement have compounded vulnerabilities, leaving families without secure shelter, access to health care or consistent water and sanitation services.
The United States and Israel say their strikes aim at military and security infrastructure, but many of these sites are located in densely populated neighbourhoods, contributing to civilian harm and the mass movements of people. UN agencies and aid groups say the urban concentration of presumed military targets is producing widespread fear among non-combatants and rapid movements into the countryside and smaller towns perceived as safer.
Civilians displaced by the fighting have described focusing on basic survival needs rather than engaging with the larger political narratives surrounding the conflict. Political leaders and commentators, including former U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been prominent in public debate; however, aid workers say those on the ground are primarily concerned with finding food, shelter and protection for children and elderly relatives amid continued strikes and insecurity.
Humanitarian agencies warn that internal displacement of this scale — 3.2 million in two weeks — requires a swift scaling up of assistance and protection measures, especially for groups with irregular status such as Afghan refugees who may face additional legal and practical barriers to receiving aid. The movement from cities to rural areas also raises concerns about the capacity of host communities to provide shelter and services, as well as the logistics of delivering humanitarian relief where infrastructure may be limited.
The situation remains volatile and evolving. UNHCR’s update marks the latest and most stark indication yet of the human cost of the escalation, and aid organisations are calling for unfettered humanitarian access, protection for civilians and increased international support to cope with the rapidly growing internal displacement crisis.
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