US agents arrest relatives of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani after revoking their green cards

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) – U.S. federal agents have detained the niece and grand-niece of late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status, the State Department said on Saturday.

“Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the State Department said in a statement, saying also that Rubio revoked their green cards. 

Soleimani was killed in a January 2020 U.S. airstrike in Baghdad during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

The State Department said Afshar supported Iran’s government and its propaganda. It also said Afshar’s husband was barred from entering the United States. 

The detention came as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran entered its sixth week . 

The State Department added that earlier this month, Rubio terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Ardeshir-Larijani and Motamedi are no longer in the United States and are barred from future entry, according to the State Department. 

Ali Larijani, an architect of Iran’s security policy, was killed in mid-March by a U.S.-Israeli air attack. 

In his second term in office, Trump’s administration has stepped up deportation attempts against immigrants, calling them threats. Rights advocates have raised concerns about free speech and due process. Many immigrants detained by ICE have been released following court orders.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Alison Williams, Sergio Non and Chizu Nomiyama )