Of more than 10,000 asylum seekers that have attempted the journey to Australia by boat since the start of the year, 3275 are from Iran.
The figure shows a steady increase from the 2749 Iranian asylum seekers that arrived across the whole of 2012, just over 1500 arrivals in 2011 and fewer still in 2010.
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The statistics also show increasing numbers of asylum seekers from Bangladesh (393) and Vietnam (592).
In contrast, the number of Sri Lankans attempting the journey appears to be slowing, with 1302 boat arrivals this year, down from more than 6400 last year.
Nationalities of irregular boat arrivals for 2013 (to date)
Stateless – 1110
Afghan – 1515
Iranian – 3275
Bangladeshi – 393
Pakistani – 751
Burmese (Myanmar) – 201
Iraqi – 503
Vietnamese – 592
Sri Lankan – 1302
Sudanese – 195
Somali – 74
Other – 284
Nationalities for 2012 arrivals
Sri Lankan – 6428
Afghan – 4256
Iranian – 2749
Pakistani – 1173
Stateless – 1241
Iraqi – 912
Other – 443
Nationalities 2011 arrivals
Afghan – 1603
Iranian – 1581
Stateless – 379
Iraqi – 326
Sri Lankan – 211
Pakistani – 188
Vietnamese – 101
Burmese – 76
Palestinian – 49
Syrian - 33
Other – 18
