US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration has revoked the lawful permanent resident status of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, a niece of late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, and her daughter, in the latest immigration move linked to the war with Iran. The State Department said both women were arrested by federal agents and are now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody pending removal from the United States.
Rubio said Afshar had been living in Los Angeles as a green card holder and accused her of publicly supporting the Iranian regime and celebrating attacks on Americans. In an official State Department statement issued on April 4, the administration said it would not allow the United States to be a home for foreign nationals who support what it called anti American terrorist regimes.
Reuters reported that Afshar and her daughter were detained after Rubio revoked their green cards, while the Associated Press said the action was part of a broader effort affecting several Iranian nationals with ties to the current or former Tehran government. That wider crackdown has included visa and residency action against other relatives of senior Iranian officials.
The move adds another political and diplomatic flashpoint to the already escalating US Israel war on Iran. It also signals that the Trump administration is extending wartime pressure beyond the battlefield and into immigration enforcement inside the United States. This last point is an inference based on the timing of the arrests and the broader pattern of actions described by US officials and news reports.
