{"id":583346,"date":"2026-04-05T07:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T07:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583346\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T07:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T07:30:12","slug":"u-s-says-agents-arrested-qassem-soleimanis-niece-and-grandniece-after-revoking-green-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583346\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. says agents arrested Qassem Soleimani\u2019s niece and grandniece after revoking green cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani attends a meeting in Tehran in a photo posted to an Iranian government website. Soleimani was killed in an air strike in Baghdad in 2020 during Trump\u2019s first term in office.The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

U.S. federal agents have detained the niece and grandniece 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,\u201d the State Department said in a statement, adding that Rubio revoked their residency status, also known as a green card.<\/p>\n

The State Department did not say where the arrests occurred. The statement said the pair were arrested on Friday and that Afshar had been \u201cenjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles\u201d that was documented on her recently deleted Instagram account.<\/p>\n

Soleimani was killed in a U.S. air strike in January, 2020, in Baghdad during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term in office.<\/p>\n

Iranian news agencies reported on Saturday that Soleimani\u2019s daughter, Narjes Soleimani, said the late Iranian military commander\u2019s family and relatives have never lived in the U.S. and that he had two nephews, not nieces.<\/p>\n

U.S. races to find missing pilot as Trump threatens Iran with new Strait of Hormuz deadline<\/a><\/p>\n

Opinion: The U.S. will emerge from the war with Iran as a lesser power<\/a><\/p>\n

The State Department said Afshar supported Iran\u2019s government and its propaganda. It also said Afshar\u2019s husband was barred from entering the United States.<\/p>\n

The detention came as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran entered its sixth week.<\/p>\n

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 entry, according to the State Department.<\/p>\n

Ali Larijani, an architect of Iran\u2019s security policy, was killed in mid-March by a U.S.-Israeli air attack.<\/p>\n

In his second term in office, Trump\u2019s administration has stepped up deportation efforts 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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani attends a meeting in Tehran in a photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-583346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-headlines","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-top-news","53":"tag-top-stories","54":"tag-topnews","55":"tag-topstories","56":"tag-travel","57":"tag-trudeau","58":"tag-us-news","59":"tag-world-news","60":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}