Iran says over 50 nationals to return from US after Trump immigration crackdown

• Iran announced that 50 to 55 of its nationals are set to return from the United States in the coming days, marking the second such group returned in recent months.
• Iran’s Foreign Ministry slammed the US immigration crackdown as "racist" and "politically motivated," saying the returning Iranians faced significant pressure to express their willingness to leave.

Iran said Sunday over 50 of its nationals were to return from the United States, with President Donald Trump pursuing a crackdown on immigration.

"In the coming days, around 50 to 55 Iranian nationals will return," the spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said during his weekly press conference.

"This is the second group in recent months to be returned to Iran."

According to CNN, the group is expected to arrive in Iran later on Sunday, after a stopover in Kuwait.

Baqaei in his remarks slammed what he called US "racist actions against foreign nationals -- particularly citizens of our region, and especially Iranians".

"Regarding Iranians, it is evident to us that these pressures are politically motivated and that these anti-immigration policies conflict with human rights laws," he added.

Baqaei said the Iranians, under significant pressure from the relevant US authorities, approached the Iranian Interests Section in Washington and "expressed their willingness to return to their homeland".

"Our Interests Section has facilitated this process, and in the coming days, around 50 to 55 Iranian nationals will return," he said.

Iran and the United States do not have formal diplomatic relations, but Tehran maintains an office within the Pakistani embassy in Washington which deals with consular issues.

US authorities this week paused green card and citizenship processing for nationals from 19 countries, including Iran, already subject to travel restrictions announced in June.

In September, Iran said 120 of its nationals were deported from the United States under Trump's immigration crackdown, according to foreign ministry consular affairs official Hossein Noushabadi talking to Tasnim news agency.

He then said "the US immigration service has decided to deport around 400 Iranians currently in the United States, most of them after entering illegally."