Baghdad: The United States has deported around 50 individuals of various nationalities, most of them Iranians and Arabs, on board a chartered plane arranged by U.S. authorities, according to a report by The New York Times citing Iranian officials.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the report stated that the plane departed from the state of Arizona carrying nearly fifty Iranians, along with several Arab nationals and others, and is scheduled to land in Egypt and Kuwait. This deportation comes under a new agreement between Washington and Tehran to coordinate the return of Iranians facing deportation, estimated at around 2,000 people, via direct chartered flights to Tehran, instead of the previous method of individual deportations on commercial airlines.

Two Iranian officials mentioned that this flight is the second of its kind following an initial flight conducted last September. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declined to comment, while an unnamed U.S. official described the flight as ‘routine’ and noted that it included multiple nationalities.

Mojtaba Shasti Karimi, Director of Consular Services at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Tehran expects to receive about 55 deportees from the United States. He added that many of those deported had expressed a desire to return due to what he described as ‘racist and anti-immigration policies’ in the U.S., along with reports of ‘inhumane treatment’ of Iranian detainees.

However, U.S. Representative of Iranian descent, Yasmin Ansari, warned via social media that some ‘vulnerable individuals may face persecution’ if returned to Iran.

The second flight follows an earlier deportation operation conducted last September through Qatar, during which eight of the 45 individuals resisted deportation out of fear for their safety. Two deportees reported being beaten and forced onto the plane-allegations denied by both the United States and Qatar.