The deportations come as tensions between Iran and the US remain high after America bombed Iran’s nuclear sites in June during Tehran’s 12-day war with Israel.
Activists abroad have also expressed concern over the return of deportees to Iran, saying the theocracy is cracking down on intellectuals and executing prisoners.
The report was published today by the Mizan news agency, the official gazette of the Iranian judiciary, which quotes Iranian Foreign Ministry official Mojtaba Shasti Karimi as admitting the deportation of 55 Iranians.
– Those persons announced their readiness to return after the continuation of the anti-immigration and discriminatory policy of the United States against foreign citizens, especially Iranians – Karimi allegedly said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also said on Sunday that there are plans to return 55 Iranians to the Islamic Republic.
Based on US claims, “Iranians were repatriated for legal reasons and immigration violations,” Baghaei claimed.
The US government did not immediately confirm the flight and it was not clear if the plane had already arrived in Tehran. The US Department of Homeland Security and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press this morning.
In September, Iranian officials acknowledged that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under the Trump administration’s policy. That month, the first such flight arrived in Tehran.
Before and after the 1979 revolution, a large number of Iranians fled to the US.
In the decades that followed, the US was sensitive in allowing those fleeing Iran because of religious, sexual or political persecution to apply for residency.
Iran has argued that only those charged with a crime are prosecuted, while others can travel freely. Tehran, however, has in the past detained Westerners and others with foreign connections for prisoner exchanges.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
