The United States is set to deport approximately 400 Iranians, the majority of whom entered the country without authorisation, as part of a broader immigration enforcement crackdown under US President Donald Trump, according to a senior Iranian official on Tuesday.
Hossein Noushabadi, Iran’s director general for parliament affairs at the foreign ministry, told the semi-official news agency Tasnim that the first group of 120 individuals would be deported soon, reports agencies.
“In the first step, they decided to deport 120 Iranians who entered the US illegally, most of whom through Mexico,” Noushabadi said.
The deportation, which follows months of negotiations between the US and Iran, marks a rare example of cooperation between the two countries. Noushabadi noted that the overall deportation plan, involving around 400 Iranians, aligns with the US government’s new stricter stance on immigration.
The first group of returnees, of 120 people, is expected to arrive in Iran within the next one to two days, with a US-chartered flight already on its way from Louisiana on Monday. According to the New York Times, the flight was scheduled to stop in Qatar before reaching Iran on Tuesday.
Some of the deported Iranians had agreed to leave after being held in detention centres for months, while others had not volunteered for deportation. Noushabadi urged the US to uphold the rights of Iranian migrants, stating, “Some (returnees) had residence permits but due to reasons stated by the US immigration office they were included in the list. Of course, their own consent was obtained for their return.”
The White House and US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s administration has vowed to deport a record number of people living in the US without legal status, following claims of high illegal border crossings under former US President Joe Biden. However, the administration has faced challenges in increasing deportation levels, even as it has explored new options to send migrants to third countries.
Earlier this year, the US deported 119 people from various countries, including Iran, to Panama as part of an agreement between the two nations.
