TEHRAN – Iran has confirmed the departure of a second flight carrying Iranian nationals deported from the United States, as officials in Washington reportedly prepare to send hundreds more back to Tehran.

This wave of deportations comes amid persistently strained relations between Iran and the U.S., exacerbated by recent military actions. In June, the U.S. targeted Iranian nuclear facilities during Tehran’s 12-day conflict with Israel. Such geopolitical tensions have only heightened concerns among activists about the fate awaiting deportees in Iran, where the government has intensified its crackdown on intellectuals and ramped up executions to levels not seen in decades.

The Iranian judiciary’s official news source, the Mizan news agency, reported on Monday that Mojtaba Shasti Karimi, an official from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, confirmed the deportation of 55 Iranians. Karimi noted that these individuals expressed a desire to return home amid what he described as the U.S.’s ongoing anti-immigration and discriminatory policies, particularly against Iranians.

Further corroborating this, Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, stated on Sunday that plans were indeed in place for the repatriation of 55 citizens back to the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also said Sunday there were plans for 55 Iranians to return to the Islamic Republic.

Based on the U.S. claims, “the Iranians were repatriated because of legal reasons and breach of immigration regulations,” Baghaei said.

The U.S. government did not immediately acknowledge the deportation flight and it wasn’t clear whether the plane had arrived yet in Tehran. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press early Monday.

The deportations represent a collision of a top priority of President Donald Trump — targeting illegal immigration — against a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In September, Iranian officials acknowledged as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under the Trump administration policy. That month, the first such flight arrived in Tehran.

In the lead up to and after the 1979 revolution, a large number of Iranians fled to the U.S. In the decades since, the U.S. had been sensitive in allowing those fleeing from Iran over religious, sexual or political persecution to seek residency. Iran has maintained only those facing criminal charges face prosecution, while others can travel freely. However, Tehran has detained Westerns and others with ties abroad in the past to be exchanged in prisoner swaps.

Iran has criticized Washington for hosting dissidents and others in the past. U.S. federal prosecutors have accused Iran of hiring hitmen to target dissidents as well in America.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.