The Trump administration on Saturday announced the arrest of two Los Angeles-based relatives of a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard killed in a US drone strike in 2020.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said federal authorities detained Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter on Friday. Soleimani is the niece of Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, who led Iran's Quds Force, an elite branch of the Iranian military responsible for the country's foreign operations.
Soleimani Afshar and his daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, lived a “luxurious lifestyle” in Los Angeles, according to Rubio.
“While living in the United States, he promoted the Iranian regime's propaganda, celebrated attacks on American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced the United States as the 'Great Satan,' and expressed unwavering support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization,” the Secretary of State's office said in a news release.
“The Trump administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign citizens who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” Rubio said in a post on X.
Soleimani Afshar and Hosseiny had their lawful permanent resident status in the United States revoked, Rubio said. Soleimani's husband Afshar was also banned from entering the country.
Soleimani Afshar came to the United States in 2015 on a tourist visa and was granted asylum in 2019, according to Department of Homeland Security Acting Deputy Secretary Lauren Bis. Soleimani Afshar obtained a green card in 2021 under the Biden administration, Bis said.
Since he was issued his green card, he has traveled to Iran four times, Bis said. Hosseiny entered the United States on a student visa and was granted asylum in 2019. He became a green card holder in 2023, according to Bis.
Suleimani was killed in a US airstrike on a Baghdad airport in January 2020, during President Trump's first term. He led the Quds Force from 1998 until his death.
At the time, the Pentagon said Suleimani was actively developing plans to attack American military personnel and diplomats in the Middle East.
Suleimani was powerful and seen as a national hero in Iran, and his mythical status grew even further in death.
The arrests were the latest in a series of relatives of Iranian officials in the United States targeted by Rubio.
The secretary of state said he “terminated the legal status” of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, and her husband, Seyed Kalantar Motamedi.
Rubio said both were no longer in the United States.
