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Emails show ICE coordinated with Iran on deportation flights amid rising tensions

August 18, 2026 · Iran

Emails show ICE coordinated with Iran on deportation flights amid rising tensions

Newly disclosed emails reveal that U.S. immigration officials worked with Iranian government representatives to arrange deportation flights that returned more than 100 Iranian nationals in September and December 2025 and January 2026. The records show Iranian officials requested changes to passenger manifests, which ICE sometimes accommodated, and that deportations of Iranians continued to be treated as a priority even during the June 2025 conflict involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran. The emails also describe ICE facilitating meetings between Iranian officials and detained Iranians, an issue now at the center of a lawsuit alleging U.S. authorities improperly shared confidential asylum information with Tehran, which DHS has denied.

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