US arrests ex-Iranian General Soleimani's relatives after Green Cards cancelled

US federal agents arrested the niece and grand-niece of late Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani after their Green Cards were revoked. The arrests came amid the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, now in its sixth week with no signs of easing.

In Short

• US arrests niece and grand-niece of late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani
• Their Green Cards revoked for 'supporting Iran’s regime and propaganda'
• Both were detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

US federal agents have arrested the niece and grand-niece of late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after their Green Cards were cancelled, the State Department said on Saturday. Green Cards allow foreign nationals to live and work permanently in the US, offering a pathway to citizenship after three to five years.

"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 Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their Green Cards. The arrests came amid the US-Israel war on Iran, which has entered its sixth week, with no signs of ending.

Soleimani, the former head of Quds Force, the external operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was killed in a January 3, 2020 US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport ordered by President Donald Trump during his first term. The US had accused him of directing attacks by Iran-backed militias on American forces.

In a statement, the State Department said Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, identified through media reports and her own social media activity, was an outspoken supporter of Iran’s “totalitarian, terrorist regime.”

The department alleged that while living in the US, she “promoted Iranian regime propaganda,” “celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities,” praised Iran’s Supreme Leader, denounced the US as the “Great Satan” and expressed “unflinching support” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington designates as a terrorist organisation.

“Afshar Soleimani pushed this propaganda for Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently deleted Instagram account,” the statement said.

Authorities have terminated the legal permanent resident (LPR) status of both Afshar and her daughter, while her husband has been barred from entering the US.

Earlier this month, the State Department revoked the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of former Iranian official Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Both are no longer in the US 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 State Department said.

The arrests of Qasem Soleimani’s niece and grand-niece came days after Trump, in a national address on Thursday, spoke at length about his decision to order the killing of Soleimani during his first term, suggesting the situation in Iran would have been very different had he remained alive.

“I did many things during my two terms in office to stop Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and perhaps most importantly, I killed General Qassem Soleimani in my first term,” Trump said. He described Soleimani as “an evil genius, a brilliant person, a horrible human being,” adding that he was “the father of the roadside bomb.”

Trump added, “Had he lived, we would probably be having a different conversation tonight, but we’d still be winning, and winning big.”

Soleimani was a central architect of Iran’s regional strategy and its network of proxy forces, and was widely seen as one of the most powerful military figures in the Middle East. He exercised significant influence across the region, including a direct role in high-level negotiations over the formation of the Iraqi government in 2018.

Revered by many in Iran, he was viewed by the US as a formidable and dangerous adversary. He was widely viewed as the second most powerful figure in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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