The United States deported three former members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who entered the US illegally in 2024, the Department of Homeland Security stated on Tuesday.
The IRGC, designated as a terrorist organization by the US during US President Donald Trump’s first term in 2019, is also considered a terror organization by Israel and a growing number of other countries. On Thursday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is set to propose that the European Union also consider it such.
The DHS named the three Iranians as Ehsan Khaledi, Mohammad Mehrani, and Morteza Nasirikakolaki.
According to the department, Mehrani entered the US illegally in southern California in September, 2024. Kheladi illegally entered through the same area a month later. Nasirikakolaki illegally entered the US in November of that year before encountering Border Patrol agents near San Luis, Arizona.
Trump admin. deports 14 Iranians
The announcement comes after a source told CNN on Monday that the Trump administration had deported 14 Iranians, the first such deportation since the protests in the Islamic Republic broke out a month ago.
Previously, a White House official was quoted by CNN as saying that “any individuals being deported would have Executable Final Orders, meaning a federal judge has ordered their removal from the United States.”
Two of those who had been deported were gay men who face "an extremely high chance" of being executed if they return to Iran, their lawyer, Bekah Wolf, told CNN.
"If you care about the people, please let us stay," one of the men beseeched US President Donald Trump, speaking to CNN anonymously. "We are not bad human beings. We love this country. If we could live in this country, we will love it more than we love our homelands because our homeland is captured. It’s ruined. It’s destroyed by the government of Iran... We came to this country for safety."
At least two deportation flights occurred in 2025, with approximately 55 people deported each time in September and December.
The recent DHS announcement comes as the protests in Iran conclude their first month. The demonstrations drew deadly crackdowns by the regime, with some estimates putting the death toll above 30,000.
While the true number of those killed is unknown, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency confirmed on Wednesday the deaths of 6,221, and is currently investigating the deaths of 17,091 others.
James Genn and Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.