About 400 Iranians to be deported from US to Iran, says country's foreign ministry

As many as 400 Iranians will be deported from the U.S. back to Iran in the coming weeks, according to the country's foreign ministry on Tuesday.

Iran said that the first 120 deportees are being prepared for a flight in the next day or two, The Associated Press reported. The U.S. government has not yet publicly acknowledged the deportations.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the U.S. has welcomed Iranian dissidents, exiles, and others.

Iranian state television cited director-general for parliamentary affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Hossein Noushabadi, regarding the 400 Iranians that will return to Iran as part of the deal with the U.S. Noushabadi said the majority of those Iranians had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, while some faced other immigration issues.

The first flight of Iranians would arrive in a day or two, after stopping over in Qatar on the way, according to Noushabadi. Qatari authorities have not confirmed that.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, only 20 Iranians were deported in fiscal year 2024.

While Noushabadi said that American authorities unilaterally decided to deport Iranians without consulting with Iran, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing anonymous Iranian officials, that the deportations were “the culmination of months of discussions between the two countries.”