The Trump administration deported 120 Iranians back to their home country overnight after striking a rare agreement with Tehran, according to reports.

Iranian officials told The New York Times that a planeload of migrants left Louisiana on Monday night and was expected to arrive in Iran through Qatar on Tuesday.

A U.S. official also confirmed the plan to the outlet.

The deportees included criminals and others who entered the country illegally, a U.S. official said, according to Reuters.

An Iranian official said some members of the group had residence permits.

The transfer is part of a larger group of about 400 Iranians due to be deported under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, officials from both countries confirmed.

Monday’s flight marked an unusual moment of coordination between Washington and Tehran amid more than four decades of tensions.

The cooperation also comes just months after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Hossein Noushabadi, director general for parliament affairs at Iran’s foreign ministry, told the Tasnim news agency that the U.S. was “planning to deport around 400 Iranians, most of whom entered the country illegally, in line with the new anti-immigrant approach of the U.S. government.”

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“In the first step, they decided to deport 120 Iranians who entered the U.S. illegally, most of whom through Mexico,” Noushabadi said, according to Reuters.

Noushabadi said the first group of 120 would reach Iran within one or two days.

The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.

The United Nations refugee agency complained in a statement that it had not been notified.

“States must ensure access to asylum, due process, and respect for the principle of non-refoulement,” UNHCR said.

Some of those deported had volunteered to leave after months in detention centers, while others had not, according to The New York Times.

Noushabadi said that some deportees “had residence permits but due to reasons stated by the U.S. immigration office they were included in the list. Of course, their own consent was obtained for their return.”

Trump has vowed to deport a record number of people in the U.S. illegally after high border crossings reached an unsustainable level under former President Joe Biden.

Staff Writer

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