Last autumn, a case was opened in the Reunited Family Links Office of the IRCS Under Secretary General for International Affairs and IHL Department to return Zobair to his family in northern Afghanistan. This mission was carried out by the Iranian Red Crescent, Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) of the Iranian Ministry of Interior, The Immigration and Passport Police Office and the Afghanistan Embassy in Iran.

On Thursday morning, April 21, Zobair was delivered to his father in Dogharoon district where Iran and Afghanistan share borders.

“The Iranian Red Crescent, in line with its humanitarian agenda, transferred the child, along with the case expert at the IRCS Reunited Family Links Office, by a direct flight from Tehran to Mashhad Hasheminejad Airport on Thursday morning, and from there by Khorasan Razavi Red Crescent operational vehicle to Dogharoon border,” said Hassan Esfandiar, the IRCS Director General of International Operations and Humanitarian Programs.

“Zubair's father is a veteran Afghan journalist for whom Taliban refused to issue him a passport,” added Esfandiar. “Therefore, our pursuit of Mr. Salangi's legal entry into Tehran was unsuccessful, and it was decided that his young son Zubair would be transferred to the Afghan-Iranian border with the travel expenses of the Iranian Red Crescent.”

Last year, in May, Zobair and his family entered into Iran through the southeastern border illegally, reaching to the southern city of Bandar Abbas where police returned a group of immigrants who had entered the country illegally. Zobair's father, along with a number of other immigrants, returned to Afghanistan while Zobair and a few others escaped.

Zobair travelled to Tehran, staying at the house of one of his relatives in Bumhen in Tehran province, but being away from his parents was very difficult for him and caused his discomfort.