Emails show ICE worked with Iran on deportation flights
Newly released emails reported by CBS News show U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly coordinated with Iranian officials to deport more than 100 Iranians to Iran on three flights in late 2025 and early 2026, even as U.S.-Iran tensions escalated and Iran sought changes to who was sent back.
Key Takeaways
- FOIA emails obtained by the National Iranian American Council detail three deportation flights in September 2025, December 2025, and January 2026 that returned more than 100 Iranians to Iran.
- ICE officials documented Iranian Embassy requests to add specific people to manifests, and in at least one case moved to amend lists after meeting Iranian diplomats.
- Internal messages called Iranian removals a White House priority during the June 2025 Twelve-Day War, when Iranian airspace was closed and travel documents were hard to obtain.
- One Iranian not on the final manifest still boarded a flight and was sent on to Iran; DHS has denied sharing asylum records with Tehran.
The correspondence, covered by CBS News, The Intercept, and Reason, offers the clearest timeline yet of how Washington and Tehran arranged the trips despite severed formal diplomatic ties. Qatar often served as intermediary, while emails also cite meetings with Iranian Embassy directors and delegations.
What did the emails say about ICE and Iran?
Hundreds of messages show ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations staff coordinating passenger manifests, travel documents, and charter logistics for flights that moved deportees toward Tehran. Iranian officials acknowledged in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump administration.
In late August 2025, an ICE official wrote that, per a request from the Iran Embassy, additional cases were added. Another note said Iran asked to amend a prior manifest and expedite removals. On Sept. 26, days before the first flight, officials said the Iranian Embassy still sought three more passengers after issuing travel documents.
Reason reported ICE appeared to comply by collecting those people from U.S. detention sites for the Sept. 29, 2025 departure. Same-day requests were later denied for logistics, not policy objections, according to the emails.
Why does the timing of the deportations matter?
Planning intensified after then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons labeled Iranian repatriation a priority in mid-June 2025, while U.S. and Israeli strikes were underway. Removal operations chief Marcos Charles pressed for a plan to remove Iranians with final orders in custody ASAP, and staff described the effort as a White House priority.
Flights continued months after a ceasefire, reversing a long U.S. practice of rarely forcing Iranians home because of persecution risks. Advocates say that matters because deportees can face questioning or harm after arrival, and asylum-seekers were among those previously reported returned.
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Did ICE hand specific people over at Iran's request?
Yes, according to the released emails. Officials recorded Iranian requests to add named individuals, and at least one wrong person boarded after not appearing on the final Qatari manifest. Joshua Coster, then an ICE attache liaising via Qatar, called that boarding unfortunate; the passenger was still sent to Iran.
A separate lawsuit alleges ICE shared confidential asylum details with Iranian officials who met detainees. DHS has called those asylum-record claims false and said it facilitates lawful consular access. The emails alone do not prove asylum files were shared, but they do show diplomatic coordination over who flew.
NIAC leaders argue the operation prioritized removals by whatever means necessary, while DHS did not comment to CBS News on the newly released messages. The record leaves open how often contact was direct versus routed through Qatar, and what happened to many returnees once they reached Iran.