Federal Agents Arrest Family Members of Iranian Military Leader After Rubio Order: ‘Green Card Holders Living Lavishly’

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The niece and grandniece of slain Iranian military Gen. Qasem Soleimani were arrested and saw their legal statuses revoked after an order from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio announced on Saturday that Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter’s green card statuses were revoked after support for Iran’s regime and the celebration of “attacks on American soldiers.”

Rubio wrote on X:

Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States.

Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the “Great Satan.”

This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter’s legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States.

The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.

A State Department press release identified Afshar as supportive of Iran’s “totalitarian, terrorist regime” based on her social media posts. They also accused her of promoting Iranian propaganda while in the U.S. Afshar’s husband is also barred from entering the country.

“While living in the United States, she promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the “Great Satan,” and voiced her unflinching support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization,” the statement on her arrest reads.

The announcement came as search and rescue operations stretched into a second day to recover a second crew member of a U.S. fighter jet that went down this week over Iran. The first pilot was reportedly rescued. President Donald Trump has also vowed a massive military operation by Monday if Iran does not open up the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through.

Soleimani was assassinated in a 2020 drone strike carried out during Trump’s first term in office.

According to DHS, Soleimani’s niece first entered the United States in 2015 on a tourist visa and she was eventually given asylum in 2019 and a green card in 2021. They also claimed she has traveled to Iran multiple times since receiving her green card, which she disclosed when applying for citizenship in July.

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