120 Iranians deported from US to fly home this week: ministry

Iran said Tuesday that 120 nationals being deported from the United States under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, will fly home this week.

"120 people should be deported and flown home over the next couple of days," foreign ministry consular affairs official Hossein Noushabadi told the Tasnim news agency.

"The US immigration service has decided to deport around 400 Iranians currently in the United States, most of them after entering illegally."

The deportation, an uncommon instance of cooperation between the two countries, came after months of talks, according to the New York Times, which first reported the move.

Call to respect Iranians' rights

Noushabadi said 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."

The first group of 120 would reach Iran in the next one or two days, he said.

The New York Times reported that a U.S.-chartered flight took off from Louisiana on Monday and was scheduled to arrive in Iran via Qatar sometime on Tuesday.

Some of the Iranians had volunteered to leave after being in detention centers for months, and some had not, the newspaper said.

Noushabadi called on Washington to respect the rights of Iranian migrants in the United States.

"Some (returnees) 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," he said.

The White House and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond following the announcement.

Trump plans to deport a record number of people living in the U.S. without legal status, after what he describes as high illegal border crossings under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.

However, his administration has struggled to increase deportation levels, even as it has created new avenues to send migrants to countries other than their own.

The U.S. in February deported 119 people from different countries, including Iran, to Panama as part of an agreement between the two countries.