Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, the niece of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, along with her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25. Both had their green cards revoked after the State Department confirmed they had been living in Los Angeles while allegedly promoting Iranian regime propaganda and denouncing the United States as the “Great Satan.”
According to the NY Post, the State Department’s letter confirming the Friday arrests stated that Afshar, 47, was actively promoting Iranian regime propaganda, celebrating attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praising Iran’s new Supreme Leader, and voicing support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a designated terror organization.
Afshar is the niece of General Qasem Soleimani, who led the notorious Quds Force and was killed in a drone strike ordered by President Trump in Iraq in 2020. Her now-deleted social media reportedly showed off an extravagant lifestyle, including designer handbags from Louis Vuitton and Hermès, a Tesla Model 3, expensive cars, and outfits that would be completely illegal in the Islamic Republic she was allegedly supporting.
The lavish lives of these two women stood in sharp contrast to the ideology they were promoting
Her daughter Hosseiny’s now-deleted social media accounts allegedly showed her in bikinis, sporting stomach tattoos, lounging on jet skis, clubbing in Miami, vacationing in Alaska, and partying in Las Vegas; a stark contrast to the conservative Shia Islam her mother reportedly promoted online.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrated the removal order on X, stating that the Trump Administration will not allow the country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes. DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis also stated that it is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States, and that if there is reason to believe a green card holder poses a threat to the US, that green card will be revoked.
These arrests come at a time when US-Iran tensions continue to escalate rapidly, with both sides exchanging increasingly aggressive rhetoric. Afshar initially entered the US in 2015 on a tourist visa, was granted asylum in 2019, and secured her green card in 2021 under the Biden administration. Her daughter entered in 2015 on a student visa and became a green card holder in 2023.
The Department of Homeland Security also noted that Afshar made at least four trips back to Iran after receiving her green card. Neighbors near Afshar’s home in the Tujunga area, roughly 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, shared details about the arrests. Halasius Bradford, 50, who rents the main house on the property, said Afshar was living in a backyard unit.
He added that Hosseiny’s boyfriend told him that he and Hosseiny were driving outside when ICE vehicles cut them off, and agents demanded to know where the mother was. This is not an isolated case. Last month, the State Department also terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larjiani, daughter of former Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larjiani, who was killed on March 16 by joint US and Israeli airstrikes.
Despite these tensions, diplomatic back-channels between Washington and Tehran remain a complicated and contested topic. Separately, Iran has named a new model of ballistic missiles the “Haj Qassem,” after General Soleimani, with the missiles reportedly designed to evade Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. Afshar’s husband, who was not named by the State Department, has also been barred from entering the United States.
According to Iran International, however, Soleimani’s daughter denied that the person arrested in the United States had any relation to the deceased Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. “The individuals arrested in the United States have no relation whatsoever to the family of Martyr Soleimani, and the claim by the US State Department is a lie,” she wrote in a social media post.
Published: Apr 5, 2026 09:15 am