NYT: US deports dozens more Iranian nationals

The United States has deported around 50 Iranian nationals in coordination with Iran.

The flight carrying the Iranian citizens departed from an airport in Arizona and is scheduled to make stops in Egypt and Kuwait, the New York Times (NYT) reports, citing two Iranian officials familiar with details.

In addition to Iranians, the plane includes citizens of Russia and several Arab countries, who are expected to disembark during the stop in Cairo.

This marks the second such deportation this year, following a September flight that carried roughly 100 Iranian nationals out of the United States.

Around 2,000 Iranian nationals are reportedly awaiting deportation from the US.

In September, US officials reported identifying roughly 400 Iranians for deportation, with the first flight transporting 120 individuals to Tehran through Qatar's capital.

The transfers represent a rare instance of cooperation between two countries at odds over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran claims is for civilian purposes while Washington maintains it is intended for developing a nuclear weapon.

The relationship between the US and Iran shifted dramatically in 1979, when the Iranian Revolution toppled the US-backed Shah.

Since then, the US and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations, a rupture that followed the seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the US imposed successive sanctions on Iran — including designating it a “state sponsor of terrorism” in 1984 — and imposed comprehensive embargoes on trade and investment beginning in 1995.

In the mid-2010s, there was a brief diplomatic thaw: in 2015, Iran and the P5+1 countries, including the US, signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

That deal collapsed in 2018 when the US, under a new administration, withdrew and reimposed sanctions — prompting Iran to resume expanded nuclear-related activities.

Following that, the relationship has returned to deep mistrust, with periodic military confrontations and recurring tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

By Jeyhun Aghazada