A plane carrying Iranians whom US authorities intended to deport returned to the United States shortly after takeoff Tuesday after Pakistan refused to accept it, in the second failed attempt to deport the same group in days, ABC News reported.
The plan, according to the network's sources, was to transfer the deportees to Pakistan, with the authorities there later transferring them to Iran, but Islamabad refused to accept the plane for reasons that are not yet clear.
The second attempt comes after a similar flight was canceled on Sunday, while the plane was parked on the runway of an airport in Arizona ready for takeoff, before the Iranians were returned to detention facilities.
The deportation attempts come amid a legal dispute over the return of Iranian immigrants to their country in light of the war between the United States.