Washington strips Iran’s Soleimani relatives of permanent residency
Shafaq News- Washington
The United States revoked the residency of two relatives of late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, the US State Department reported on Saturday, citing political and security concerns.
Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, was killed alongside Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) deputy chief Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in a US airstrike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.
In a post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote that Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter had been living in the United States on green cards before federal agents took them into custody and placed them in deportation proceedings.
Describing Afshar as a relative of Soleimani, he portrayed her as a supporter of Iran’s government, which has reportedly backed attacks against US personnel while referring to Washington as the “Great Satan.”
Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States.Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 4, 2026
In a later statement, the US State Department confirmed the deportation, noting that Rubio also revoked the permanent residency of Ali Larijani’s daughter, the former secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, who was recently killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran.
