Crackdown on Iran links: Soleimani’s niece detained by ICE after US cancels Green Card

US federal authorities have arrested the niece of slain Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani along with her daughter after their lawful permanent resident status in the United States was revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, officials said on April 4. 

The two women — identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter — are currently in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are awaiting removal proceedings, according to the US State Department. 

Rubio announced the action in a social media statement, saying the Trump administration had withdrawn the pair’s green card status. “They are pending removal,” he said, adding that the United States would not allow individuals who support regimes hostile to the country to remain within its borders. 

The State Department described Soleimani Afshar as an “outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran,” alleging that she used her social media accounts to promote Iranian government propaganda. Officials also said her husband has been barred from entering the United States, though his name and the name of their daughter were not disclosed. 

The arrests come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, following a conflict that began in late February involving US and Israeli military operations against Iran. The Trump administration has increasingly moved to revoke immigration privileges of individuals it believes are aligned with adversarial governments. 

Rubio said the administration “will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.” 

The move follows another recent decision by the State Department to terminate the legal immigration status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani — the daughter of former Iranian national security official Ali Larijani — along with her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Both individuals have since left the United States and are now subject to a permanent entry ban, officials said. 

Soleimani Afshar is the daughter of Qassem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Soleimani was killed in January 2020 in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport ordered by then US President Donald Trump. 

At the time of his death, Soleimani was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Iran, second only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in political and military authority.