TEHRAN -- A UNHCR spokesman here has said that the voluntary repatriation program for Afghan refugees has exceeded expectations.

"The UNHCR-assisted voluntary repatriation program (VRP) in Iran has passed the 100,000 mark," the UNHCR spokesman stationed in Iran, Mohamad Nouri, here on Monday told IRNA in an exclusive interview.

"That means that 25 percent of the planned figure of 400,000 returnees for the first year has been reached in just three months," he added.

The program, covered by a tripartite agreement between Iran, Afghanistan and the UNHCR, was established on April 9, 2002.

Under the terms of the accord, 400,000 Afghan refugees residing in Iran are to return to their country before the deal expires, that is, in one year's time from the date of the agreement.

According to the statistics offered by the Bureau for Foreign and Aliens Affairs (BAFIA) of the Ministry of Interior, there are nearly 2.5 Afghan refugees living in Iran.

Top UNHCR officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran have assessed the VRP program as highly successful.

"What we have achieved to date is contributing in a positive way to Afghanistan's rehabilitation and reconstruction," Nouri said. He added: "A recent analysis of those registering at the voluntary repatriation centers (VRC) showed that the largest group of UNHCR-assisted returnees by far are single men between the ages of 18 and 59."

"More than a quarter of those registering said they were going to Kabul. Almost 40 percent registered in Tehran and more than half of the total who registered were ethnic Tajiks," he concluded.