Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday confirmed that 55 Iranian nationals have been detained and are being deported from the United States, marking the second group expelled in recent months under President Donald Trump’s tightened immigration policies.
The group of Iranian deportees is being returned to Iran, Mojtaba Shasti Karimi, director-general of consular affairs at the Iranian foreign ministry, told the judiciary's Mizan News Agency.
According to Karimi, the individuals had over recent months completed “legal and administrative procedures” through Iran’s Interests Section in Washington DC.
He added that instructions were issued to Iranian diplomatic missions in transit countries to ensure “proper and humane” treatment of the 55 nationals during their transfer.
The report did not identify any of the deportees or specify when they will arrive in Iran.
The announcement followed a December 5 report by BBC that said US authorities planned to deport more than 50 Iranians within 48 hours.
According to the BBC, the group was being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Arizona and was scheduled to be flown on December 6 to Egypt before continuing to Iran via Kuwait.
In an interview with CNN, one Iranian who said he was slated to be on the charter flight said returning to Iran would place his life in danger.
The man, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said he had fled Iran because of his sexual orientation. Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran.
CNN reported it could not independently verify the man’s account. He said he had applied for asylum in the United States, though the status of his claim remained unclear. “Certainly, if I go back to my country, my life will be in danger."
On September 29, a plane carrying 120 Iranians including three women landed in Iran, an Iranian expelled from the United States told Iran International, adding that detainees had faced mistreatment in US facilities and that force was used during their transfer.
The individual said a charter flight carried the first group of deportees back to Iran under security escort.
Hossein Noushabadi, a senior parliamentary and consular official at Iran’s foreign ministry, said at the time US immigration authorities intended to deport nearly 400 Iranians in total.
