LOS ANGELES, Aug 20: Newly released internal emails have shed light on a previously undisclosed channel of communication between US immigration authorities and Iranian officials over the deportation of Iranian nationals during 2025 and early 2026.
The correspondence, obtained by the National Iranian American Council and released Tuesday, details how US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) coordinated with Iranian representatives to arrange three deportation flights carrying more than 100 Iranians to Iran in September and December 2025 and January 2026.
The emails indicate that Iranian officials had a role in determining who would be included on some of the flights. In several instances, ICE personnel referred to requests from the Iranian Embassy to modify deportation manifests or accelerate removals.
One ICE official wrote in an August email that several cases had been added to a list following a request from the Iranian Embassy. Days later, another official referred to a meeting with a senior Iranian Embassy representative before making an additional change to the removal list.
The correspondence also shows that Iranian representatives continued making requests shortly before at least one flight departed. In one September exchange, an ICE official said the Iranian Embassy was seeking to add three more people to a flight scheduled to leave the United States within days. Some of those requests were ultimately rejected.
The extent of the cooperation between American and Iranian officials remains unclear. The emails indicate that some communications took place directly with Iranian representatives, while Qatari officials were involved in other arrangements, including the chartering of flights through Doha.
The documents do not establish whether all individuals placed on the Iranian lists agreed to return voluntarily. Previous reports have indicated that some deportees included asylum-seekers, while others have said they were returned against their wishes.
The emails also reveal at least one apparent error in the deportation process. An Iranian national who was not included on the final passenger manifest provided to Qatari authorities was nevertheless allowed to board the flight. An ICE official subsequently questioned how the person had been permitted onto the aircraft.
Deportations Remained a Priority During Conflict
The correspondence suggests that the Trump administration treated the removal of Iranian nationals as a priority even during the 12-day conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran in June 2025.
Following then-President Donald Trump’s warning for people to leave Tehran, former acting ICE director Todd Lyons described the repatriation of Iranian nationals as a priority in communications with senior removal officials.
ICE personnel acknowledged that carrying out removals during the conflict would be difficult. Iran had stopped issuing some travel documents, its airspace had been closed and people were fleeing the country amid the fighting.
Despite those obstacles, senior officials instructed staff to develop a plan for removing dozens of Iranian nationals who had final removal orders and were being held in ICE custody.
The documents indicate that officials were seeking a way to continue the removals despite the logistical and security challenges created by the conflict.
Concerns Over Contact With Iranian Officials
The revelations have prompted renewed concerns among Iranian American advocates and human rights groups over the treatment of Iranian nationals facing removal.
The deportation of people to Iran has drawn criticism because of documented concerns over the treatment of political dissidents, women, religious minorities and other groups by Iranian authorities.
The emails also show instances in which Iranian officials were reportedly given access to people held in US immigration detention. The purpose and circumstances of some of those meetings are not fully explained in the released correspondence.
The issue has particular significance for Iranian asylum seekers. In a separate lawsuit filed in Washington, DC, Iranian detainees alleged that they were compelled to meet Iranian government representatives while in ICE custody and that those officials were familiar with details of their asylum claims.
The lawsuit further alleges that US immigration authorities improperly shared confidential information concerning Iranian asylum applicants with Tehran.
US regulations governing deportation cooperation with foreign governments permit coordination on removal logistics but restrict the disclosure of information that could reveal an individual’s asylum application.
The Department of Homeland Security has rejected allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with Iranian authorities, calling such claims false.
The newly released emails nevertheless provide a detailed account of the extent to which US and Iranian officials communicated over deportation arrangements, raising fresh questions about how the removals were organised and how decisions over individual detainees were made.