Newly released internal emails show that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked with the Iranian government to deport more than 100 Iranians in late 2025 and early 2026. The documents, obtained by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and made public Tuesday, indicate that Iranian officials influenced which individuals were selected for removal and requested that the process be expedited. The communications took place around the time of a 12-day military conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran in June 2025.
The coordination marks a change from long-standing U.S. practices regarding Iranian exiles and dissidents following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not provide a comment Tuesday, though the agency previously denied allegations in a separate lawsuit that it had shared confidential asylum records with Iran. Iranian officials stated in September 2025 that an agreement with the Trump administration could result in the return of up to 400 Iranians, most of whom had reportedly entered the U.S. from Mexico without legal authorization.
According to the emails, ICE officials adjusted deportation manifests based on requests from the Iranian Embassy. In August 2025, one official noted they added cases per the embassy's request, and later emails mentioned meetings with the "Director at the Iranian Embassy" to amend lists. Coordination continued despite internal warnings that removal would be difficult because Iranians were fleeing their country and Iranian airspace was closed during the June 2025 conflict. Former acting ICE director Todd Lyons described the repatriations as a "priority" in June 2025, shortly after President Trump posted a social media warning for people to evacuate Tehran.
The emails also reveal concrete administrative impacts on the U.S. immigration system, including reports of at least one person being deported by mistake after not being included on the final manifest. Furthermore, sworn declarations from 11 Iranians in an unrelated July lawsuit alleged they were forced to meet with Iranian government officials while in ICE detention. These detainees claimed Iranian authorities possessed intimate details about their asylum claims. If these claims are proven, it would indicate a breach of federal regulations that prohibit the U.S. government from sharing information that could identify an individual as an asylum seeker.
The precedent set by this cooperation involves a departure from decades of U.S. policy regarding Iranian exiles and introduces new levels of direct diplomatic coordination between the two nations on enforcement matters. The knock-on effects include potential legal challenges regarding the privacy rights of detainees and the future of Qatari-assisted charter flights, which were used to facilitate these removals through Doha. The next steps in this matter involve ongoing litigation in a Washington, D.C., court, where the lawsuit regarding the alleged sharing of asylum information remains active following the July filings.