Mehrabadi made the remarks in an interview with IRNA on Sunday at Mesa Airport in Arizona, where he saw off the nationals as they boarded a plane bound for Kuwait.
According to the diplomat, the Iranian citizens were released on Saturday night local time from the Florence Correctional Center in Arizona. From Kuwait, they will continue on to Iran, he said.
Mehrabadi noted that the Interests Section has been following up on the cases of Iranian detainees in the US over the past nine months. As part of these efforts, he visited Iranian inmates at 13 to 14 detention centers across the country.
He explained that the Iranian inmates fall into two groups. A large number had been jailed for illegally entering the US from neighboring countries such as Mexico and Colombia. Another group includes Iranians who had been living legally in the US—some married to American spouses or holding US citizenship—but were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after committing a crime, he said.
“During meetings with these individuals, most expressed willingness to return to Iran,” Mehrabadi added, noting that they were assured they would be welcomed back, even though some had previously requested asylum in the US.
“Based on consular laws and regulations, and as my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry have stated, seeking or receiving asylum is not considered a crime under Iranian civil law,” he said.
Mehrabadi also noted that the number of Iranians illegally residing in the US is very low compared with nationals of other countries, adding that Iranians are not the only group affected by US immigration policies, which have been tightened under Donald Trump.
IRNA