The US authorities have arrested the niece of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an American strike near the Baghdad airport in Iraq in 2020, said officials on Saturday. Soleimani’s niece was identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, who was arrested along with her daughter.
According to the US State Department, Afshar and her daughter had been living a ‘lavish lifestyle’ in Los Angeles for several years and had been publicly supporting the current Iranian regime and anti-US attacks. They were arrested on Friday by immigration agents after their green cards were revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The two are currently under the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will now be deported.
“Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States,” Rubio said on X (previously Twitter). “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,” Rubio added.
Trump administration’s wider move against Iranians
Along with Afshar and her daughter, the Trump administration has also detained two other Iranians nationals, who had links with the current or the past regime, and will be deported. They were identified as the daughter (Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani) and son-in-law (Seyed Kalantar Motamedi) of Iran’s former national security adviser Ali Larijani, who was killed on March 17 in an Israeli strike.
The moves comes following last December’s action against Iranian diplomats and staffers at Iran’s mission to the United Nations (UN). The Iranian mission has not issued a statement about the US action.
The action comes as Trump continues to warn Iran to accept his peace proposal and open the critical Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, he reminded Iran of his April 6 deadline for opening Hormuz and said the Middle East nation will face dire consequences. But Iran seems undeterred by Trump’s threats and has warned of swift retaliation, even as speculations of ground invasion continue.
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