US Detains Relatives of Qassem Soleimani and Revokes Residency

The United States government has arrested the niece and grand-niece of the late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status. The two women, identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny, are currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pending their removal from the country.

The State Department announced the arrests on Saturday, April 5, 2026. According to a statement released by the department, the termination of the women’s green card status was ordered by Secretary Rubio. In a social media post, Rubio stated that the two women had been living lavishly in the United States.

Details of Residency and Asylum Claims

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided a timeline of the women’s residency in the United States. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar entered the U.S. On a tourist visa in 2015. She was granted asylum in 2019 and subsequently became a green card holder in 2021.

The DHS stated that during a naturalization application process in 2025, Soleimani Afshar revealed she had visited Iran four times since receiving her green card. U.S. Officials claim these trips demonstrate that her original asylum claims were fraudulent.

Similarly, her daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, entered the U.S. In 2015 on a student visa. She was granted asylum in 2019 and received a green card in 2023.

Contradicting Claims and Background

The arrests and the claims regarding their familial ties have been contested. The daughter of Qassem Soleimani has described the State Department’s claims as false, asserting that the arrested individuals have no connection whatsoever to her father.

Qassem Soleimani served as a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite military branch of the Iranian government. He was Iran’s most powerful military commander until he was killed in 2020 during a U.S. Air strike in Iraq ordered by then-President Donald Trump.

The current actions by the U.S. Government are part of a broader effort by Secretary Rubio to revoke the residency of foreign nationals with ties to the Iranian regime, which the U.S. Identifies as a terror regime.

The two women remain in federal custody as the U.S. Government proceeds with the legal process to remove them from the country.