A deportation flight carrying Iranians was abruptly turned around shortly after takeoff Tuesday, according to the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund.

Axar.az reports, citing ABC News, the deportees on Tuesday's flight were scheduled to be flown to Pakistan, which was then set to transport them to Iran, but Pakistan declined to receive them, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

It's unclear why Pakistani authorities refused to accept the plane.

The diverted flight comes after a previous attempt to deport the same group was canceled Sunday while the plane sat on the tarmac in Arizona "ready for takeoff" and the detainees were moved back to detention, an attorney for the IALDF previously told ABC News.

Both flights come after a federal judge blasted the administration for planning to send people back to Iran -- "a declared enemy" -- during the ongoing war there.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Wednesday that Tuesday's flight "contained criminal illegal aliens who have criminal histories that include arrests and convictions covering assaults, drug trafficking, child abuse, domestic battery, and illegal weapon possession."