Official: 50 Iranian nationals jailed in US heading home
The director of Iran’s Interests Section in Washington, Abolfazl Mehrabadi, says around 50 Iranian prisoners have left the United States for their home country following the strict immigration policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Mehrabadi told IRNA on Sunday that the Iranians who were held in Arizona State Prison-Florence West had departed for Tehran through Mesa Airport on Saturday.
He said they were flown to Kuwait to be repatriated home.
Before their release, Mehrabadi held a cordial conversation with the Iranian nationals at Florence prison.
It was initially planned that 54 Iranians would return on this flight, but due to some incomplete legal procedures, their repatriation may be delayed, IRNA reported.
American and Iranian officials announced in September that about 400 Iranians were expected to be returning from the US. The first flight, carrying 120 people, arrived in Qatar in late September before they were transferred to a Tehran-bound flight.
Every Iranian can return home at any time: Foreign Ministry
Speaking at his weekly press conference on Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said American officials claim that the return of Iranians from the United States has apparently taken place on “legal grounds and due to alleged violations of immigration laws.”
“However, we know that over the past year, racist actions against foreign nationals, particularly citizens of the region and especially Iranians, have intensified,” he added.
“Iranian nationals have been subjected to harassment under various pretexts.”
He noted that these Iranian citizens, after being subjected to pressure by US authorities, were referred to the Islamic Republic’s Interests Section in Washington and expressed their desire to return to their homeland.
“Naturally, any Iranian in every part of the world is free to return to Iran whenever they wish. Our Interests Section provided the necessary facilitation, and in the coming days, around 50 to 55 Iranian nationals will return to Iran,” Baghaei emphasized.
It is evident that the US exerts political pressures on Iranians and pursues anti-immigration policies in contradiction with human rights principles, he added.
Meanwhile, Mojtaba Shasti Karimi, director of consular services for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, also confirmed on Sunday that Iran was expecting to receive about 55 deportees from the United States in the coming days.
Shasti Karimi said that those in the group had expressed their willingness to return home due to the US government’s “racist and anti-immigration policies.”
He noted that Tehran had received reports of “inhumane” treatment of Iranians held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
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