In brief
A chartered flight carrying over 50 Iranian nationals has returned to Iran as part of US deportation efforts, confirming Tehran's cooperation with Washington amidst deteriorating relations following heightened political tensions. Critics, including immigrant support groups, warn of the dangers awaiting deported individuals, particularly members of vulnerable communities such as Christian converts and the LGBT group, who face persecution in Iran.
The US has deported a second group of Iranian nationals, officials in Tehran said, as the Trump administration continues its immigration enforcement efforts.
A chartered plane carrying more than 50 Iranians flew out of Mesa, Arizona, on Sunday, travelling through Cairo and Kuwait before arriving in Iran, according to reports.
Tehran's foreign ministry confirmed the Iranian nationals' return to Iran. US immigration officials could not confirm or deny a flight for security reasons.
The first deportation flight took off from the US in late September, in a rare instance of cooperation between Iran and the US. Many Iranian nationals say they come to the US because they fear persecution at home.
Father Joseph Bach, a member of Borderland Companions of Hope, a Franciscan organisation that provides support to migrants, said he has been informed through his contacts inside an Arizona detention facility that Christian converts were among those removed. He also said some detainees had identified as LGBT.
Christian converts and members of the LGBT community are groups that face severe legal and social repercussions in Iran.
Father Joseph called the deportations the most unchristian thing to do, adding, It's scary, it concerns me, it is not OK. I call this a death flight.
Iranian authorities have facilitated the repatriation efforts. An Iranian consular official said the deported nationals had announced their willingness for return following continuation of anti-immigration and discriminative policy against foreign nationals, particularly Iranians, by the United States, the Iran's judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency reports.
However, one detainee who spoke with the BBC said not all those who were deported were willing to return.
One person who was on a list for potential deportation told the BBC he and his partner crossed into the US on foot from Mexico earlier this year. Speaking from an immigration detention centre in Arizona, he said he feared for his life if he returned to Iran.
The latest deportations come as already severely strained relations between the two countries further deteriorated in June, after the US bombed Iran's nuclear facilities.
The removals highlight the US government's hardline immigration posture under President Donald Trump, who made border security and reducing unauthorized migration central to his political agenda.
