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The Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced this Saturday the revocation of the permanent residency cards of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter, niece, and great-niece of the late Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday night and are currently in federal custody awaiting their removal from the United States.
Rubio announced it through his account on X with a direct message: "Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were permanent residents with green cards and were living in great luxury in the United States".
According to the Secretary of State, Afshar was not a discreet resident: she was "a fervent supporter of the Iranian regime, who celebrated attacks against Americans and referred to our country as the 'Great Satan'."
The State Department confirmed that these statements were posted on social media, including Instagram, while Afshar maintained his legal status on U.S. soil and resided in Los Ángeles.
Rubio was categorical in justifying the measure: "The Trump administration will not allow our country to become a refuge for foreign citizens who support anti-American terrorist regimes."
The case of Afshar and his daughter was not the only one of the week. The Secretary of State also revoked the visas of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former Iranian National Security Advisor Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi.
Both were no longer in U.S. territory at the time of the revocation and were barred from reentering the country.
In total, at least four Iranian nationals with ties to the government of Tehran had their immigration status revoked during this week.
The State Department issued an official statement this Saturday confirming all actions and framing them within the Trump administration's policy of not tolerating the presence in U.S. territory of individuals who support what Washington considers terrorist regimes.
Qasem Soleimani, uncle of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, was the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from 1998 until his death.
He was considered the second most powerful figure in Iran, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Pentagon blamed him for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers.
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After that operation, Iran launched ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq on January 8, 2020 and issued arrest warrants against Trump and 35 other people. Since then, Washington has accused Tehran of multiple plots to target the life of the U.S. president.
The actions this week are part of the hardline immigration policy that the Trump administration has implemented since January 2025 against Iranian nationals, particularly those with ties to the IRGC, designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
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