According to a report by Times of Israel, on Friday January 23, 2026, America is sending Iranians home to die. A deportation flight scheduled for Sunday will return dozens to Iran, including a same-sex couple whose attorney says faces near-certain execution.
The flight marks the first US deportation to Iran since massive protests consumed the country and President Trump threatened the regime over its violent response. That makes the decision to deport vulnerable individuals particularly grotesque.
“Extremely high chance” of execution awaits the couple if returned, according to their lawyer Bekah Wolf. Iran’s morality police previously arrested them. Prosecutors charged them with offenses punishable by death under the Islamic Republic’s draconian legal code.
Iranian law treats homosexuality as a capital crime. The regime executes gay individuals by public hanging, using cranes in city squares as gallows. Between 4,000 and 6,000 LGBTQ people have been executed since Iran’s 1979 revolution, per the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersect Association.
“They’re facing death sentences by hanging,” Wolf told CNN, describing the specific method Iran employs.
The contradiction staggers. Trump condemned Tehran’s brutality against protesters while deporting people directly into that brutality. His administration weaponizes deportation without considering consequences beyond America’s borders.
Same-sex relationships remain criminalized throughout Iran. Article 233 of the Islamic Penal Code mandates death for penetrative sex between men. Women face lashes, though repeated offenses carry capital punishment. Iranian courts apply these statutes actively.
Neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor the White House responded to CNN’s requests for comment. Their silence speaks volumes.
This couple fled Iran seeking survival. They escaped arrest, prosecution, and imminent execution. American immigration authorities are returning them to finish the job Iran’s morality police started.
Human rights advocates describe Iran as one of Earth’s deadliest places for LGBTQ individuals. Sunday’s deportation flight proves America’s willing to make it deadlier still.
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