Correspondence reveals: Despite the tension, the United States and Iran cooperated

In brief: Exposed emails between US immigration officials point to cooperation between the US and Iran. The countries coordinated the deportation of more than 100 Iranians on three different flights in September and December 2025, and in January 2026. The AP reported that the coordination surrounding these flights remained a high priority even during the 12-day war in June 2025. According to the correspondence, Iranian officials influenced the identity of the migrants deported. Some of the deported Iranians claimed they were forced to meet with regime representatives while imprisoned in the US.

The AP reported today (Thursday) that US immigration authorities cooperated with Iran in late 2025 and early this year to facilitate the deportation of Iranian citizens.

Email correspondence between US immigration officials, exposed by the National Iranian American Council, pointed to working ties between the countries despite the heavy tension between them. The correspondence revealed coordination for the deportation of more than 100 Iranians on three separate flights in September and December 2025, and in January 2026—coinciding with the outbreak of protests in the Islamic Republic.

According to the emails, Iranian representatives influenced the list of citizens sent back. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials complied with requests for changes to deportation lists coming from Tehran. "At the request of the Iranian embassy, I added a few cases," wrote one official in August 2025, a month before the first deportation flight.

Another official noted that he met with a director at the Iranian embassy and reported: "Iran asked me to change the previous manifest and speed up the removal process." Coordination continued until the last moment, including requests to add names even three days before flights.

Top priority — even during the war

The coordination surrounding the deportation flights remained a high priority even during the 12-day war between the US and Israel against Iran in June 2025. Todd Lyons, then acting director of ICE, called the return of Iranian migrants a priority in a message to the official in charge of deportation operations, Marcus Charles. This was despite warnings from agency officials that deportation would be difficult due to the war, the closure of Iranian airspace, and the fact that Iran was not issuing travel documents at the time.

Charles remained determined to carry out the move and ordered his staff to formulate a plan for the deportation of 58 Iranians. "We need a plan forward as soon as possible," Charles wrote to his employees. Another official urged colleagues to find a solution for this White House priority. The emails suggest that pressure to carry out these deportations came from the highest levels of the Donald Trump administration, even as citizens were fleeing Iran due to bombings.

Meetings with regime representatives in detention

As mentioned, some deportees were selected specifically by Iranian officials. The exposed emails showed that immigration authorities organized meetings between official representatives of Tehran and migrants held in US detention facilities. 11 Iranian citizens claimed in legal affidavits that they were forced to meet with regime representatives and that those representatives had detailed information about their asylum requests.

The deportations and coordination with Tehran sparked sharp criticism from human rights activists. Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said the exposed emails undermine Donald Trump's claims that the US is at war with Iran to save citizens from the regime. "This demonstrates that the top priority here was to deport as many people as possible by any means necessary," said Abdi.