Newly leaked ICE emails, obtained via a National Iranian American Council FOIA request and detailed by The Intercept, show the agency coordinated directly with Iranian government officials and Qatari intermediaries to deport Iranians back to Iran, including at least three people added to a September 2025 flight at Tehran's specific request. The effort began June 19, 2025, when then-Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons ordered staff to prioritize removing Iranians just days before U.S. strikes during the Twelve-Day War, with removal operations chief Marcos Charles pushing for a plan "ASAP" while ICE held roughly 522 Iranian nationals in detention. The deportations marked a break from decades of U.S. practice generally allowing Iranians with final removal orders to remain due to persecution risks, and included people who are openly gay or converted to Christianity, both criminalized in Iran. An Iranian diplomat interviewed detainees at a Louisiana facility with apparent access to asylum case details, one person was mistakenly deported after being boarded without approval, and in total ICE removed more than 100 people to Iran across flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026, with Iranian officials later signaling openness to accepting up to 400 removals.