US arrests relatives of slain Iranian general Soleimani
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WASHINGTON: Two family members of slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani have been arrested in the United States after their residency permits were rescinded, the US State Department said on Saturday (Apr 4).
"Last night, the niece and grand niece of deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qassem Soleimani were arrested by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio's termination of their lawful permanent resident status," a department statement said.
It identified the niece as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar. Her daughter was not named. Both "are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement," the statement said, without specifying their whereabouts.
SOLEIMANI'S FAMILY TARGETED
Soleimani, who led the IRGC's foreign operations arm, was killed in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020, during Trump's first term in the White House.
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The State Department said Soleimani Afshar was "an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran," citing press reports and her own social media activity. It said she had "praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader" Ali Khamenei and "denounced America as the 'Great Satan.'" Her husband has also been barred from entering the United States.
LARIJANI FAMILY ALSO AFFECTED
The daughter and son-in-law of another slain Iranian official, security chief Ali Larijani, have also had their legal status terminated. Both "are no longer in the United States and are barred from future entry," the statement said.
Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was killed on Mar 17 in an Israeli strike.
"The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes," Rubio said in a post on X.
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