The United States has revoked the residency of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, the niece of late IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Saturday.
In a statement, the US State Department said Soleimani’s niece and her daughter were arrested on Friday night and are currently in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the authorities seek their deportation.
The high-profile case has drawn scrutiny from legal experts and human rights activists, who have questioned the extent to which family members should be punished for their relations with designated terrorists.
The State Department cited media reports and social media posts describing Afshar as “an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran”.
“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” the statement added.
However, Zeinab Soleimani, daughter of the late Qassem Soleimani, told Iranian state media that the two arrested women had “no connection whatsoever” to her father, calling the US claims false.
The arrests came exactly five weeks after the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.
On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio took credit for the decision on social media.
“This week, I terminated both Afshar's and her daughter’s legal status,” he wrote.
“She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the ‘Great Satan’.”
Follow us
