United States deports Iranians after striking rare deal with Tehran

The United States has begun deporting Iranians after reaching a rare agreement with Tehran, marking an unusual moment of cooperation between two adversaries.

A U.S. military aircraft carrying 55 Iranian nationals departed Monday, according to officials familiar with the arrangement. The flight, originally expected to carry 120 people, landed in Doha, Qatar, before passengers were transferred to a charter flight bound for Tehran.

Abolfazl Mehrabadi, who oversaw coordination with Washington, said many of the returnees had spent months in U.S. immigration detention after their asylum requests were denied. He claimed the individuals “voluntarily accepted” deportation to Iran rather than relocation to third countries such as Somalia or Sudan.

However, rights advocates and immigration attorneys dispute that account. One lawyer representing a deportee said his client “never consented to return” and feared reprisal from Iranian authorities.

Many Iranians seeking asylum in the United States cite persecution, censorship, and systemic rights abuses at home raising alarm among international observers over potential risks they now face.

“These individuals are Iranians who left the country legally. However, they entered the United States is another matter,” said Hossein Noushabadi, director general for parliamentary and consular affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

Their return to the homeland faces no obstacle, as Iran will always support its citizens.

The deal appears to reflect a limited thaw between Washington and Tehran, whose relations have remained fraught since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It remains unclear whether Iran received any concessions in exchange for accepting the deportees.

U.S. immigration officials estimate roughly 300 Iranians remain in detention, with another 2,500 facing deportation proceedings. Iranian authorities said around 400 nationals will be repatriated in the coming months.