Soleimani's niece, grandniece detained: us escalates immigration crackdown
Washington D.C. – In a move signaling a deepening animosity towards Iran and a tightening of immigration policies, US federal agents have taken into custody Hamidah Soleimani Afshar and her daughter, niece and grandniece respectively of the late Qassem Soleimani. The action, authorized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, follows the revocation of their lawful permanent resident status, a development sure to further inflame tensions between the two nations.
A swift and decisive action
The State Department confirmed the detention on Saturday, stating that Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Rubio, in a terse social media statement, declared that the pair are “pending removal” from the United States. This action comes against a backdrop of escalating military activity between the US and Israel and Iran, which began in late February, fueled by accusations of Iranian-sponsored terrorism.
The timing is particularly pointed. The Trump administration has aggressively pursued the revocation of legal immigration statuses for individuals deemed aligned with US adversaries. Rubio’s pronouncements have been unambiguous: “Our country will not become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.” The allegations against Soleimani Afshar paint a picture of unwavering allegiance to Iran's hardline agenda. Officials claim she celebrated military strikes against US personnel and publicly praised Iran’s current supreme leader following the death of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a large-scale air attack.
The accusations extend to online activity, with US officials citing Soleimani Afshar’s Instagram account as evidence of a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, juxtaposed with vocal support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Her reported labeling of the US as the “Great Satan” further fueled the decision to strip her of her legal status. Her husband has also been barred from entering the United States.
This crackdown mirrors a similar recent action by Rubio, who terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former Iranian national security council secretary Ali Larijani, and her husband. Both have since left the US and face a permanent entry ban. The echoes of Soleimani’s assassination in January 2020, a pivotal moment in US-Iran relations, continue to reverberate.
Qassem Soleimani, then considered the most powerful figure in Iran after Ayatollah Khamenei, commanded the Quds Force, the IRGC’s elite branch responsible for extraterritorial operations. His death sparked vows of vengeance from Iran’s senior officials. As Ebrahim Raisi, then president of Iran, stated in 2023, “We have not and will not forget the blood of martyr Soleimani.” Raisi himself perished in a helicopter crash in 2024, but the sentiment remains a potent symbol of ongoing Iranian resolve.
The US government’s actions, while framed as a security measure, raise complex questions about due process and the potential for political targeting of individuals with family ties to high-ranking Iranian officials. But the message is clear: Washington is drawing a hard line, and the repercussions will likely be felt across the already strained landscape of US-Iran relations.