Released Emails Show ICE Coordinated Deportation Flights to Iran, Let Tehran Influence Passenger Lists

Hundreds of emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by the National Iranian American Council and published August 20, 2026 (reported first by the Associated Press) reveal that ICE officials coordinated directly with the Iranian government — often through Qatari intermediaries — to arrange three deportation flights returning more than 100 Iranian nationals to Iran in September and December 2025 and January 2026. The emails show Iranian officials repeatedly influenced who was placed on the manifests: one ICE official wrote 'Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases,' and another said Iran had 'requested that I amend the previous manifest and expedite the removal process,' with the Iranian Embassy still requesting additions as recently as three days before a September flight's departure. On several occasions ICE arranged for Iranian officials to meet directly with detainees in U.S. custody; eleven detained Iranians said they were forced into such meetings. The coordination continued through the June 2025 U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict. Iranian officials had said as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under the arrangement, though the completed flights were smaller. DHS declined to comment on the emails but has previously and separately denied sharing asylum records with Iran, calling such claims 'FALSE.'