The Trump administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians even as military operations continued between the two nations, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. Hundreds of emails reveal coordination between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Iranian officials to return over 100 Iranians on three flights between September 2025 and January 2026.

The Jerusalem Post reports the talks occurred during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iranian targets. CBS News notes the deportation coordination continued despite mounting tensions, with plans for further removals extending into October 2026.

Operational Details

The emails, disclosed through court filings, show U.S. immigration officials worked directly with Iran to coordinate logistics for deportation flights. Yahoo News reports the Trump administration conducted these negotiations even as the war in the region dragged on, with the most recent deportation flight occurring in January 2026.

Forex Factory details that the coordination covered three separate flights: one in September 2025, another in December 2025, and a third in January 2026. The emails indicate that planning for additional deportations continued into October, suggesting an ongoing working relationship between ICE and Iranian counterparts despite the hostile military posture between the two governments.

Context of Deportations

The deportations occurred as Iran faced domestic unrest, with the Jerusalem Post noting that Iran killed hundreds of protesters during demonstrations in January 2026. The Trump administration's decision to continue deportation coordination with Tehran's government during this period raises questions about the separation between immigration enforcement and broader foreign policy considerations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed related issues in a recent appearance, though he did not specifically comment on the court documents revealing the ICE-Iran coordination. The State Department has not disclosed whether diplomatic channels for deportation talks remained active after military operations commenced or whether they were temporarily suspended and later resumed.

Legal and Diplomatic Implications

The revelation of secret deportation talks comes as the Trump administration faces scrutiny over its handling of immigration enforcement during military conflicts. The court documents suggest that operational-level coordination between U.S. immigration authorities and Iranian officials proceeded independently of the military campaign, indicating separate tracks for immigration and defense matters.

The Associated Press notes that more than 100 Iranians were returned to Iran through this coordination, though the specific reasons for their deportations—whether related to visa violations, criminal activity, or asylum denials—are not detailed in the disclosed emails.

Critics of the deportation policy point to the domestic situation in Iran, where government crackdowns on protesters resulted in significant casualties throughout early 2026. The Trump administration has not publicly addressed whether it conducted risk assessments for individuals being deported to Iran during the period of domestic unrest and ongoing military operations.

Neither ICE nor the State Department has commented on whether the deportation coordination represents a broader pattern of working-level contacts between U.S. and Iranian officials during the conflict, or whether immigration matters were treated as a unique exception to the otherwise adversarial relationship.