The Department of Homeland Security deported three Iranian nationals known or suspected of terrorism who were former members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Fox News reported on Tuesday.
They were among 14 Iranians placed on a deportation flight to Tehran on Sunday, the first such flight since widespread anti-government protests in Iran led to a deadly crackdown, the report said.
According to Homeland Security, two of the three entered the United States illegally in Southern California in 2024. The third entered illegally in November 2024 and was encountered by Border Patrol near San Luis, Arizona.
The White House said that all deported individuals had "Executable Final Orders, meaning a federal judge has ordered their removal from the United States."
Homeland Security noted that since the start of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 1,400 known or suspected terrorists and 7,400 gang members.
Sunday’s flight was the third returning Iranian nationals since September 2025. The previous two flights were believed to have carried at least 55 people.
The IRGC is Iran’s elite military force and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The United States has designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization, citing its involvement in terrorist activity, support for extremist proxies including Hezbollah and Hamas and plots targeting US personnel and interests.
Through its Quds Force, the IRGC provides training, funding and weapons to terrorist groups and has been linked to assassination plots, attacks on US forces and other covert operations that Washington says threaten American national security and regional stability.