Second US Charter Flight Returns Iranian Nationals

(MENAFN) The United States deported a second chartered plane carrying Iranian citizens to Iran on Sunday, representing another uncommon coordinated repatriation between Washington and Tehran despite years of lacking formal diplomatic connections, a media outlet reported.

According to two Iranian officials cited by the outlet, the aircraft, transporting roughly 50 Iranian nationals, departed from Mesa, Arizona, alongside deportees from Arab nations and Russia.

The flight included layovers in Egypt and Kuwait before reaching Tehran.

Mojtaba Shasti Karimi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry consular director, told local news outlets that Tehran anticipated about 55 returnees.

He noted that they had agreed to return due to what they described as “the racist and anti-immigration policies” of the US government, and referred to accounts of “inhumane” treatment while in US immigration detention.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refused to provide comments, though a US official characterized the operation as a standard deportation procedure.

As the news of the flight surfaced, Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian-American Democrat from Arizona, cautioned on social media that the group could contain “vulnerable individuals who could face persecution” if sent back to Iran.

This deportation follows a similar operation in September, part of the Trump administration’s effort to carry out large-scale removals, according to the media outlet.

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