Iran: September 17, 2001

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Thousands of Afghans are moving across the Iranian border, fleeing possible US attacks on Afghanistan. Iran has, for years, been trying to get Afghan refugees out of Iran. Most of the people in western Afghanistan speak a dialect of Iranian. But the border area has long been known as somewhat lawless and difficult to govern. Over the last few years, the government has sent more army units to the Afghan border to deal with well armed drug smuggling gangs.