Tehran’s mixed signals on US talks underscore diplomatic drift

The Times first revealed that the United States had organized a chartered deportation flight sending 54 Iranians from Louisiana to Tehran after months of negotiations with Iranian officials, marking the first coordinated operation of its kind.

The report on Tuesday said deportees were shackled and forcibly placed on the plane, some alleging abuse during transfers, and that Iran’s Interests Section in Washington helped verify identities and issue travel documents for the flight.

Among those on board was 34-year-old Mehrdad Dalir, a political activist from Mashhad, who said he pleaded with US officers not to send him back out of fear persecution by the Islamic Republic. Dalir said he was forcibly dragged onto the flight by US authorities.

“They told me, ‘You are either getting on the plane on your own, or we will tie you and send you back,’” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The flight to Iran took nearly 50 hours and stopped in Puerto Rico, Cairo and Doha. Deportees were all shackled and handcuffed for the whole flight to Doha, the Times reported, adding that The Department of Homeland Security described the measure as essential to the safety of the passengers and staff.

Another deportee, identified only as A.A., who said he was denied a fair hearing and fears for his safety in Iran.

“They used electric tasers to pacify me, and when that didn’t work they put me and another guy in straight jackets and tied us to our seats,” A.A. told the newspaper referring to Qatari security forces on the last leg of their journey from Doha to Tehran.

Qatar, the New York Times cited a Qatari official as saying it did not receive any requests for asylum, and the detainees were transferred in full compliance with international law and security protocols.

A.A.'s lawyer, Ali Herischi, told Iran International in October that the deportees’ belongings, including files, evidence, and cell phones, were handed to Iranian authorities.

“That’s very dangerous,” said Herischi, a Maryland-based immigration lawyer.

Herischi said several deportees have since been contacted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence branch for questioning, while at least three have had their passports confiscated. One of his clients, a Christian convert, remains in hiding, and another, a political dissident, has been forced to move repeatedly to avoid arrest.

The Times also reported that Iranian officials, led by Abolfazl Mehrabadi, head of Iran’s Interests' Section in Washington, visited US detention facilities ahead of the flight to verify the deportees’ identities and issue travel documents.

The Department of Homeland Security told the Times that all 54 Iranians on the flight had final removal orders and were given due process. Dalir and A.A. said they were denied fair hearings and that returning to Iran places them in serious danger.

Earlier this year, Iran International reported on similar deportations of Iranian converts and dissidents to Costa Rica and Panama, where many remain stranded.

Rights groups say mass deportations to Iran, a country with a record of persecuting political and religious minorities, could amount to a breach of US asylum obligations.

• 

  Deported by US, Iranian Christian convert stranded in Panama jungle camp

The New York Times said both Mehrdad Dalir and A.A. had entered the United States illegally and were later ordered deported after their asylum claims were denied.

The report said it obtained government records for both men confirming details of their detention and deportation, and reviewed written statements collected by Dalir’s father from seven other passengers who said they were forcibly returned to Iran, along with interviews with both men, their families, lawyers and other Iranians in US custody familiar with the case. The report said it obtained government records for both men confirming their detention and deportation. It also reviewed written statements collected by Dalir’s father from seven other passengers who said they were forcibly returned to Iran.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, was cited as saying that of the 54 Iranians deported, 23 were linked to terrorism, 7 were on a terror watch list and 5 others were involved in human trafficking.

The report said the two men the newspaper interviewed were not among those named as involved in terrorism or fraud.

Iran’s foreign ministry says more than 400 Iranians in US custody face deportation, with additional flights under discussion, the Times reported.

After punishing Israeli blows to Iran and its armed affiliates in the region, the Houthis stood out as the most resilient ally of Tehran even as its attacks on Israel and maritime commerce caused relatively little damage.

The message came in a letter from the Houthis’ new military chief, Major General Yusuf Hassan al-Madani, to Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

Al-Madani, who replaced Major General Mohammed Abdul Karim al-Ghamari after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, used the letter to signal that the group has lifted its naval blockade on Israel.

The Israeli military accused al-Ghamari of having close ties to the Islamic Republic, saying in a statement at the time of his death in August, that he was "trained by Hezbollah and IRGC," referencing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp.

“Your words of loyalty and sincerity are a great source of pride for us… Our unity in confronting the Zionist-American enemy and its criminal projects is rooted in faith and in our shared stance against tyranny and aggression,” wrote al-Madani.

While much of the message focused on shared ideology, its closing section delivered a clear policy signal.

“We are closely monitoring developments,” al-Madani wrote, “and declare that if the enemy resumes its aggression against Gaza, we will return to our military operations deep inside the Zionist entity, and we will reinstate the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas.”

That warning comes after two years Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red and Arabian Seas, which they described as an effort to pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza.

The campaign disrupted one of the world’s busiest trade routes, killed at least nine mariners, and forced global shipping companies to reroute cargo.

The International Monetary Fund estimates Egypt lost about $6 billion in Suez Canal revenue in 2024 as a result.

Frequent Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel for much of the last two years were mostly fended off by air defense systems.

Notable lapses came in the form of a Houthi drone attack which killed an Israeli man in Tel Aviv last year and a missile attack which struck outside Israel's busiest airport in May.

Since the Gaza ceasefire began on October 10, Houthi attacks have largely stopped. Israeli officials have yet to comment on the new statement, though Defense Minister Israel Katz warned earlier this year that any renewed strikes would draw a “sevenfold” response.

The apparent halt by the Houthis, who have long cast themselves as part of the Islamic Republic’s so-called Axis of Resistance, speaks volumes about Iran’s influence, the shifting calculus of its regional proxies, and the fragility of the current peace truce.

“There’s a moment in Lebanon now. If we could get Hezbollah to disarm, the Lebanese people could get their country back,” said John Hurley, the US Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in an interview with Reuters.

"The key to that is to drive out the Iranian influence," Hurley said, "and control that starts with all the money that they are pumping into Hezbollah."

Iran, according to Hurley, has delivered about 1 billion dollars to Hezbollah so far this year despite heavy Western sanctions.

His comments came during a regional tour through Turkey, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates aimed at raising pressure on Tehran.

The Iranian embassy in Beirut dismissed the statements as “baseless and misleading” in a post on X Tuesday. “In recent days, American nonsense about Iran and its presence in Lebanon and the region has increased."

“It would have been better if American officials, instead of wasting time and being preoccupied with empty words, fulfilled the promises they made years ago to the people of Lebanon," it added, "even if only by helping to find a solution to the electricity crisis.”

“Rather than demonizing Iran and making unfounded accusations, the United States should have curbed the evil of the Israeli regime and its savage, ongoing aggression against Lebanon and its oppressed people,” the statement added.

Hurley’s comments mark Washington’s latest bid to choke off Tehran’s regional influence by targeting Hezbollah’s finances.

The strategy has intensified since Israel’s clash with the group escalated late last year with assassinations of senior and mid-ranking officials and an air and ground campaign which killed over 4,000 people.

Citing people familiar with Israeli and Arab intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Hezbollah was rebuilding its weapons and ranks in defiance of a a ceasefire deal.

Israel meanwhile continues to maintain a military presence in outposts on Lebanese territory and has repeatedly carried out deadly airstrikes it says target militants.

Ahmad Baledi had suffered burns to 70 percent of his body and died in Ahvaz's Taleghani hospital.

The Karun Human Rights Organization which documents rights abuses in the province earlier reported that municipal workers from District 3 arrived at the kiosk in Zeytoon Park without prior notice and sought to demolish.

On Tuesday, Baledi’s father Mojahed told the Tehran-based Ham-Mihan newspaper he had gone to the municipal office that morning to ask for an extension until after his late mother's memorial but was told the shop “must be demolished today.”

He said his son had entered the street stall in front of a kebab restaurant and shut the electric doors behind him when authorities cut power, leaving him inside. Ahmad began dousing himself with fuel, he added, as his mother pleaded to intervene.

“One of the municipal agents mocked him, asking, ‘Should I give you a lighter? Matches?’” he said. “When one of them pulled his mother away, Ahmad lit himself on fire. Firefighters opened the door only after the flames spread.”

Videos shared on social media appeared to show a small crowd of bystanders crowding the area as fire extinguishers were deployed.

Ahvaz prosecutor Amir Khalafian said earlier that the municipality had ignored judicial instructions and acted “unilaterally and at an inappropriate time” during the demolition, adding that both the district mayor and the municipal enforcement chief are suspended from their duties until the investigation concludes.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Amiri, who represents Ahvaz, also criticized the city’s management following Baledi’s death. “Hiring practices in Ahvaz Municipality are based on personal connections rather than regulations,” he said. “This has become a serious management problem.”

Pezeshkian orders probe into case

President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday ordered the interior minister to convey his condolences to Baledi's family and to formally investigate the case.

According to the presidential website, Pezeshkian has instructed the interior minister to immediately establish a special committee to probe the incident, ensure swift and firm action against those responsible, prevent similar cases in the future and take steps to console Baledi’s family and help ease their suffering.

Three citizens — identified as Hassan Salamat, Javad Saedi, and Seyed Sadegh Al-Bushoukeh — were arrested for writing about Baledi’s case on social media, according to the US-based Iranian civil society platform Tavaana.

The group said security forces have heavily restricted access to Taleghani Burn Hospital in Ahvaz and prevented people from gathering near the facility.

Earlier Khalafian had said that arrest warrants were also issued for three individuals "who sought to create tension and unrest on social media," adding that they have been released on bail.

Baledi's death had sparked protests in Ahvaz, with demonstrators calling for accountability for his death. The swift official response suggest authorities are seeking to draw a line under the case before it sparks broader unrest.

The incident comes amid deepening economic hardship in Iran, where soaring joblessness and inflation have pushed many households into street vending, peddling, and other informal work to survive.

The self-immolation echoes that of Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, who had been frustrated the confiscation of his wares by police. His case helped ignite the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.

Street protests erupted in Iran in 2022 after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, died in morality police custody. Authorities quashed the demonstrations with deadly force.

The demonstration, held near the headquarters of the Pars Gas Complex in Assaluyeh, drew more than 3,000 workers from twelve refinery units and nearby facilities, including the Fajr Jam Gas Refinery, according to ILNA. Protesters called for changes to the job classification system, improved benefits, and the introduction of a rotation plan that would allow administrative and support staff two weeks of work followed by two weeks of rest.

They also urged officials to address the status of hired drivers, reinstate travel and housing allowances that were cut, and move toward direct employment under state companies. Many said the contractor system has left them without security, equal pay, or access to benefits given to permanent staff.

South Pars, the country’s main natural gas hub, has long been a flashpoint for labor unrest, with workers frequently demanding overdue pay and more stable contracts. Tuesday’s gathering adds to a wave of protests in Iran’s energy and industrial sectors over recent months.

Earlier in November, oil contract workers rallied outside the presidential office in Tehran, accusing the government of breaking promises to eliminate middlemen and standardize pay across the industry. Similar demonstrations have been held by petrochemical and steel workers in Ilam and Ahvaz, showing persistent frustration among Iran’s industrial labor force despite repeated pledges of reform.