Los Angeles arrest shines light on lavish life of slain IRGC general Soleimani’s niece

While publishing content backing Tehran and celebrating attacks on US soldiers, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar also showed off her luxurious, Western lifestyle

The arrest of the niece of slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani has drawn attention to the contrast between the pro-Iranian, anti-American content she posted to social media and her lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles,

The US State Department on Saturday described Hamideh Soleimani Afshar as an “outspoken” supporter of Iran’s “terrorist regime” and said that her residency had been rescinded. Her daughter’s residency was also rescinded, and her husband was barred from entering the United States, the statement said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the move in a post on X, saying: The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.”

In posts to social media, Soleimani Afshar referred to the US as the “Great Satan” and celebrated attacks on US soldiers in the Middle East, the State Department said.

The New York Post reported Soleimani Afshar published messages of support for the Iranian regime, including since the ongoing war started in February, and welcomed the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader to take over from his father, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israel campaign.

In another post, she expressed support for regime threats to seize assets of Iranian expatriates that Tehran labeled as “traitors,” writing that their “hands are stained with the blood of the people,” according to a translation from Farsi by the Post.

“Taking war reparations from the scum who sold out their homeland is very satisfying,” she wrote.

She also reportedly shared a pro-regime graphic aimed at Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran, which showed him holding US and Israeli flags with a background of missiles hitting a city. A caption read “Why Reza Pahlavi isn’t Iran’s future,” implying that Pahlavi has a hand in the war against his homeland.

Aside from posting pro-Iranian regime propaganda, Soleimani Afshar used her Instagram account to publish photographs of herself in racy outfits that are banned for women to wear in public in Iran.

In the photos, some of which were taken in public places, she is not wearing an Islamic head covering, as would be required in Iran for a married woman.

According to the report, one photo — which appeared to have been edited — showed her with gold jewelry and a Louis Vuitton hoodie. In another, she is seen drinking champagne.

Other posts showed her wearing a bikini, a plunging top, and playfully posing on a street in shorts.

There have been numerous incidents reported from Iran over the years when women were arrested for not abiding by the country’s strict modesty codes, which include wearing a hijab headdress in public.

According to the Post, Afshar entered the US on a tourist visa in 2015 and was then granted asylum in 2019, with a Green Card following in 2021.

Qassem Soleimani, the longtime leader of the IRGC’s Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike while he was in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020, during US President Donald Trump’s first term.

Iranian news agencies reported on Saturday that Soleimani’s daughter, Narjes Soleimani, said the late Iranian military commander’s family and relatives have never lived in the US and that he had two nephews, not nieces.