The US attempt to deport Iranian citizens encountered a serious obstacle: an American flight carrying at least nine Iranian migrants was forced to turn back mid-journey on Tuesday morning. The flight was scheduled to pass through Pakistan for subsequent delivery to Iran, but Pakistan suddenly refused to accept these individuals.
Following the refusal, the airliner landed in Mesa, Arizona. According to The New York Times (NYT), all Iranian citizens on board were deported from Arizona. The initial plan involved first transporting them to Pakistan and then sending them to Iran. An American official and a relative of one of the detained individuals reported that it was specifically Pakistan's refusal that forced the crew to turn around. After landing, all deported individuals were sent back to the immigration detention center in Arizona.
A representative of the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the situation regarding the refusal to accept the flight. Nevertheless, previously, a foreign ministry representative, Sajjad Haider Khan, stated that the possibility of arranging the deportation of people to Afghanistan via Pakistan was being considered.
This incident marked the second attempt to deport a group of Iranian citizens from Arizona, which had reportedly been canceled. The situation calls into question Pakistan's role in the American administration's deportation plans.
According to the report, the Trump administration planned to use Pakistan as an intermediate point for the deportation of Iranian and Afghan citizens. Under this scheme, people leaving the US were first directed to Pakistan, and from there, transportation to the respective countries was organized. However, Pakistan's recent refusal created obstacles for this plan. This case is particularly significant because the US wanted to use the Pakistan route to return people to countries with which they lack official diplomatic relations. As of now, Pakistan has not provided detailed explanations on this matter.
