IRNA - Iran has treated Afghan refugees well over the past 40 years, said Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on Monday as the 70th session of the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) gets underway.

"Iran has given more services to Afghan refugees than any other country," said Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on Monday in a meeting with Afghanistan's Minister of Refugees and Repatriations Hussain Alami Balkhi in Geneva.

He criticized the UNHCR for failing to provide better funds for Iran to deal with the influx of Afghan refugees, saying international organizations have only paid 6% of all costs incurred on Iran so far.

Rahmani Fazli stressed that UNHCR should help Iran more in dealing with the Afghan refugees.

ExCom holds annual meetings, usually in Geneva during the first half of October. Participants in the one-week meeting review and approve the agency�s programs and budget and also discuss a range of other issues with UNHCR and intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.

ExCom's Standing Committee, however, meets several times each year to carry out the body's work between plenary sessions.

The annual plenary session of the Executive Committee is open to all UN Member States. ExCom Member States are seated first, followed by all other UN Member States participating as observers to the session.

Following interventions by ExCom Member States, observers are normally given the right to speak, at the discretion of the ExCom Chairperson. However, observers do not have voting rights and are unable to participate in decision-making, according to its website.