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The US has revoked the lawful permanent resident status of Hamideh Suleimani Afshar, a niece of the assassinated Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Suleimani, and her daughter, citing their support for Iran’s “terrorist regime”.
Both women were arrested by federal agents and are now in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pending removal from the country, the US State Department said.
Ms Afshar repeatedly expressed support for Iran's leadership and the IRGC while living in Los Angeles, the State Department added, including celebrating attacks on American targets and describing the US as the “Great Satan”.
It did not specify where or when the arrests took place.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also barred Ms Afshar’s husband from entering the US.
“Until recently, Hamideh Suleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States,” Mr Rubio said on X. “The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.”
These actions are part of what the Trump administration described as its effort to prevent supporters of “anti‑American terrorist regimes” from residing in the country.
Maj Gen Suleimani was one of Iran's most powerful military figures. He led the elite Quds Force within the IRGC and oversaw Tehran's regional military campaigns in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
He was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020 during President Donald Trump's first term, an operation Mr Trump has repeatedly described as one of his administration's greatest counterterrorism accomplishments.
Since the start of the current US-Israeli conflict with Iran on February 28, Mr Trump has frequently invoked Maj Gen Suleimani's killing in speeches and online posts, portraying it as proof of US determination to confront Iran's leadership and military forces.
The assassination, which escalated tension across the Middle East at the time, marked a turning point in Washington's long-running confrontation with Tehran.
Last month, the administration also revoked the residency of Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, daughter of deceased Iranian official Ali Larijani, and her husband, saying both had left the US and are prohibited from returning.
Mr Larijani, one of Iran’s most prominent political figures who had run for president in 2005, served as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2025 until his assassination on March 17 in an Israeli air strike on Tehran.
The State Department said the measures reflect the administration's efforts to prevent individuals with ties to Iranian state institutions or those promoting pro-regime propaganda from residing in the country.
No immediate response to the arrests was issued by Iranian officials, state media or armed forces.
