Just three months after bombing Iran, the U.S. quietly loaded about 100 Iranians onto a deportation flight to Tehran, sending refugees and asylum seekers back to a regime infamous for jailing dissidents, torturing opponents, and silencing dissent.
The two Iranian officials who spoke to The Times said the deportees included men and women, some of them couples. Some had volunteered to leave after being in detention centers for months, and some had not, they said.
The officials said that in nearly every case, asylum requests had been denied or the people had not yet appeared before a judge for an asylum hearing.
The deportation is a rare moment of cooperation between the United States and the Iranian government, and was the culmination of months of discussions between the two countries, the Iranian officials said.
NY Times
The United States has long offered asylum to Iranians fleeing the oppressive regime. It is depressing that folks are finding Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian more welcoming than the United States.
Previously:
• Iran: death penalty for 'corrupt weblogs'
• Jon Stewart delivers blistering analysis of weekend violence, from political killings to Israel-Iran tensions
