TEHRAN – A Louisiana magistrate judge ordered the immediate release of Iranian mechanical engineering doctoral candidate Pouria Pourhossein-Hendabad on Monday, barring U.S. authorities from deporting him after his arrest during the Israeli regime’s U.S.-backed war on Iran.

Judge Joseph H.L. Perez-Montes of the Western District of Louisiana determined that the 29-year-old LSU scholar must be freed from detention and be given the right to remain in the United States. 

Pourhossein-Hendabad, whose valid F-1 visa extended to 2030, had been detained since June 22 alongside his wife, Parisa Firouzabadi, at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

The scholar’s sudden and unsubstantiated arrest occurred in the immediate aftermath of Washington’s June 21 strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Court filings reveal that ICE agents used an “unconstitutional ruse” to detain Pourhossein-Hendabad and his wife.

After the couple reported a hit-and-run accident that had damaged their car, state police—lacking any warrant—arrived at their Baton Rouge apartment claiming to investigate the crash. Instead, the officers led them downstairs, where masked ICE agents in full tactical gear were waiting to arrest them.

Government lawyers presented no counter-evidence to these claims.  

Pourhossein-Hendabad’s case epitomizes a systematic U.S. campaign targeting Iranian nationals.

ICE Director Todd Lyons has explicitly prioritized “targeted enforcement” against citizens from what he termed “high-risk countries, including Iran,” while a June 4 presidential travel ban singled out Iranians among barred nations.

ICE detained 670 Iranians nationwide in one week in June alone, with home raids marked by brutality, including federal officers pinning a woman to the ground in Los Angeles as she suffered a panic attack.

Iran has repeatedly condemned Washington’s “humiliating” and “racist” measures.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei vowed Tehran would “exhaust all measures” to protect citizens abroad, directing global diplomatic missions to aid detainees.

The court’s prohibition on transferring Pourhossein-Hendabad signals judicial pushback against administrative overreach.

Yet as Trump’s ICE dismisses bond hearings for detained immigrants, the ruling remains a rare respite in an escalating climate of Iranophobia.