Iran announced on Sunday that over 50 of its nationals are set to return from the United States, as President Donald Trump intensifies his crackdown on immigration.
“In the coming days, around 50 to 55 Iranian nationals will return,” stated Esmaeil Baqaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, during his weekly press conference.
“This is the second group in recent months to be returned to Iran.”
According to CNN, the group is expected to arrive in Iran later on Sunday, following a stopover in Kuwait.
In his comments, Baqaei criticized what he described as US “racist actions against foreign nationals — particularly citizens of our region, and especially Iranians.”
“Regarding Iranians, it is evident to us that these pressures are politically motivated and that these anti-immigration policies conflict with human rights laws,” he added.
Baqaei noted that the Iranians, under significant pressure from the relevant US authorities, approached the Iranian Interests Section in Washington and “expressed their willingness to return to their homeland.”
“Our Interests Section has facilitated this process, and in the coming days, around 50 to 55 Iranian nationals will return,” he confirmed.
Iran and the United States do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, but Tehran operates an office within the Pakistani embassy in Washington to manage consular issues.
This week, US authorities paused green card and citizenship processing for nationals from 19 countries, including Iran, who are already subject to travel restrictions announced in June.
In September, Iran reported that 120 of its nationals were deported from the United States under Trump’s immigration crackdown, as stated by foreign ministry consular affairs official Hossein Noushabadi to the Tasnim news agency.
He further mentioned that “the US immigration service has decided to deport around 400 Iranians currently in the United States, most of them after entering illegally.”
