US federal agents have arrested the niece and grand-niece of late Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status, the State Department said on Saturday.
“Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the State Department said in a statement after Rubio revoked their green cards.
The State Department noted that while the pair were living in the US, Afshar “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 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization.”
The statement noted that Afshar did all of this while living a life of luxury in Los Angeles, as evidenced by posts on her Instagram account, which has since been deleted.
Earlier this month, Rubio terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Larijani, and her husband, Seyed Kalantar Motamedi.
The statement noted that the pair were deported and have been barred from future entry.
“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” the statement concluded.
