Over the past decade, Afghan migration to Iran-particularly in light of recent regional political and security developments-has evolved into a multifaceted social, cultural, and political challenge. The establishment of the National Migration Organization, increased arrests and deportations of migrants, the rise of exclusionary discourses, and the proliferation of public reactions in the media sphere, especially on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), all indicate that migration has entered the core of public contestation in contemporary Iran. Focusing on the representation of Afghan migrants residing in Iran on platform X, this study employs a qualitative methodology and thematic analysis to achieve a systematic and in-depth understanding of how discourses and frameworks of meaning surrounding the “migrant Other” are reproduced and circulated.The central research question of this study is: How are Afghan migrants residing in Iran represented on platform X, and within which dominant themes do these representations acquire meaning? To address this question, the study collected Persian-language tweets over a defined period, focusing on frequently used and trending hashtags, and identified the dominant semantic themes and discursive currents shaping these representations.The findings indicate that representations of Afghan migrants on platform X are diverse, layered, and, in some cases, contradictory. On the one hand, powerful waves of exclusionary and threat-oriented discourses work to stabilize a negative, humiliating, and insecure image of migrants. On the other hand, empathetic, rights-based, and value-oriented voices challenge this homogenized and hegemonic portrayal. At the primary level of analysis, six main representational themes were identified: threat-oriented, exclusionary, political, empathetic, value-based, and rights-based representation.Within the threat-oriented theme, Afghan migrants are portrayed as a multidimensional threat to Iranian society—encompassing security, economic, cultural, educational, and demographic dimensions. Tweets within this theme employ militarized language, metaphors of invasion and occupation, and enemy-centered rhetoric to frame Afghans as aggressors, infiltrators, or agents of national instability. Exclusionary representation emphasizes the perceived intolerability of migrants, portraying them not only as threats but as valueless, contaminating, disruptive, and disposable entities. This discourse features abusive language, ethnic labeling, racial and sexual humiliation, and explicit calls for deportation. Tweets demand the exclusion of migrants from all spheres of social life, from employment and education to presence in public spaces.
Within political representation, anti-migrant sentiment is framed as a political project. Users move beyond individual or psychological explanations to invoke macro-political mechanisms interpreting xenophobia. Some interpret these sentiments as constructions of domestic institutions aimed at diverting public attention from Iran’s core crises; others view them as externally driven projects orchestrated by regional adversaries or fascist currents; still others describe them as the product of an implicit alliance among opposing political factions seeking to reinforce ethnic binaries and exclusionary nationalism.In contrast to these predominantly negative currents, three additional forms of representation emphasize constructive, empathetic, and restorative mechanisms. Empathetic representation depicts migrants not as threats but as vulnerable, subordinated individuals trapped within unjust structures. Afghan migrants are portrayed as workers, mothers, fathers, students, or hardworking and dignified refugees, often with references to their lived experiences of poverty, discrimination, legal exclusion, and harsh labor conditions. Value-based representation approaches migrant hostility through the ethical and cultural principles of Iranian society. From this perspective, exclusionary and racist behaviors are framed not only as immoral but as fundamentally incompatible with Iran’s historical, cultural, and religious values. Users invoke concepts such as hospitality, humanism, Islamic brotherhood, or the historical experience of Iranian migration to frame xenophobia as a cultural and ideological deviation. Finally, rights-based representation attempts to shift the migration debate from emotional and moral registers to the domain of policymaking, law, and public order. Here, migrants are represented as legal subjects requiring regulation, identification, and governance within institutional frameworks. Distinctions between documented and undocumented migrants, critiques of the Islamic Republic’s migration policies, and claims of reverse discrimination constitute key components of this discourse. Some tweets critically frame notions such as “ummah-centered ideology” or “global Islam” as ideological justifications for policies that undermine the rights of Iranian citizens.From a discursive mapping perspective, three major currents can be distinguished among users: Islamic/religious, nationalist, and leftist. The Islamic current, drawing on the discourse of the ummah, religious brotherhood, and shared histories of resistance, frames migrants as co-destined subjects and attributes xenophobia to the projects of enemies of Islam. The nationalist current, emphasizing security, national identity, and resource scarcity—particularly in its radical forms—advocates for the complete expulsion of migrants and a return to a nation-state-centered order. In contrast, the leftist current, informed by anti-capitalist and anti-racist perspectives, positions migrants alongside other marginalized groups in Iranian society and interprets xenophobia as a product of diversionary mechanisms of domination. Methodologically, the use of thematic analysis enabled this study to coherently categorize core themes and the semantic structure of representations. This categorization provides a framework for understanding shifts in public opinion, analyzing discourses surrounding migrants, and qualitatively assessing user practices on platform X. At the theoretical level, by highlighting tensions between identity and otherness, national interests and human rights, religion and nation, and ethics and politics, this study demonstrates that representations of migrants are not mere reflections of external realities but active interventions in arenas of meaning struggle. Each narrative emerges from configurations of fear, values, ideology, lived experience, or analysis; consequently, the dominant discourse on migrants is the outcome of ongoing struggles among social forces seeking to define the “self” and the “other.”In conclusion, by emphasizing the layered, diverse, and dynamic nature of representations, this study suggests that policymakers, researchers, and social activists move beyond reductive framings of migration as merely a “threat” or a “security issue” and instead approach it as a cultural, communicative, and human phenomenon. Strengthening empathetic and rights-based representations, alongside reforming ineffective policies and actively confronting racism and exclusion, can contribute to fostering social cohesion and peaceful coexistence within Iranian society.